neuron

especially British, neu·rone
especially British,

[noor-on, nyoor-]

noun

1. Cell Biology.,  a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.

neuron

1. A cell of the nervous system. Neurons typically consist of a cell body, which contains a nucleus and receives incoming nerve impulses, and an axon, which carries impulses away from the cell body.

2. Also called nerve cell

Other Word Forms

• neuronal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of neuron¹

First recorded in 1880–85, neuron is from the Greek word neûron sinew, cord, nerve

Example Sentences

The show’s point is that you or I can and should pick up a hobby or enroll in a class to spark those neurons out of complacency.

From Salon

What is remembered and honored is his response to the ultimate “failure”: a failure of upper and lower motor neurons to make necessary connections that ultimately leads to rapidly progressive muscle weakness and atrophy.

From Los Angeles Times

New neurons are produced in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning.

From Salon

In which case, he says, half-jokingly, that possible organoid overlords would be easier to defeat because "there is always bleach" to pour over the fragile neurons.

From BBC

Humans have close to 100 billion neurons in their brain, but octopuses have 500 million neurons spread across their entire bodies, including in their eight tentacles that they use to taste the world around them.

From Salon