One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
adjectiveAnatomy Zoology Botany
On or relating to the upper side or back of an animal, plant, or organ.‘a dorsal view of the body’Compare with ventral‘the dorsal aorta’
rear, hind, back, hinder, rearwardView synonyms
- ‘If either of these proteins is absent, then the motor axons select dorsal and ventral pathways randomly.’
- ‘At approximately the seventh week of gestation, the ventral and dorsal buds fuse.’
- ‘Such a wasp held the fly with the middle and hind legs head forward and ventral or dorsal side up.’
- ‘The waves continue coupled to a series of dorsal and ventral flexions of the whole body.’
- ‘Just outside each vertebra, the dorsal and ventral roots unite to form a spinal nerve on each side.’
Late Middle English: from late Latin dorsalis, from Latin dorsum ‘back’.
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