Dictionary

ganglion en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡæŋ.ɡli.ən/

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek γᾰγγλῐ́ον (gănglĭ́on, “encysted tumour on a tendon or aponeurosis”).

Meanings

1. An encapsulated collection of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses, and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber.
   • [T]he wonderfully diversified instincts, mental powers, and affections of ants are generally known, yet their cerebral ganglia are not so large as the quarter of a small pin's head. 1871, Charles Darwin, “On the Manner of Development of Man from some Lower Form”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part I (On the Descent of Man), page 145:
2. Any of certain masses of gray matter in the central nervous system, as the basal ganglia.
   • The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. 2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
3. (qualifier:transferred sense) A centre of intellectual or industrial force, activity, etc.
4. A benign cystic tumour on a tendon sheath or joint capsule.

Forms

Deriveds

semilunar ganglion · inferior cervical ganglion · lumbar ganglion · thoracic ganglion · middle cervical ganglion · ganglionopathy · ganglionitis · otic ganglion · photosensitive retinal ganglion cell · neuroganglion · phrenic ganglion · ganglio- · spiral ganglion · pseudoganglion · ganglial · gasserian ganglion · ciliary ganglion · petrosal ganglion · inferior ganglion · melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cell · ganglionic · stellate ganglion · vestibular ganglion · superior cervical ganglion · ganglionosis · ganglionless · gangliac · intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell · synganglion · gangli- · trigeminal ganglion · ganglion cyst · gangliform · interganglion · pterygopalatine ganglion · ganglionary · ganglionectomy · paraganglion · hemiganglion · deganglionated · submandibular ganglion

Synonyms

ganglion cyst · nucleus

Translations (33)

nl zenuwknoop (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · ar عُقْدَة عَصَبِيَّة (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · fa گانگلیون (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · es ganglio (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · io gangliono (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · ro ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · de Kopf (centre of power or authority) · fi hermokeskus (centre of power or authority) · ru га́нглий (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cs nervová uzlina (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · de Nervenknoten (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · tr gangliyon (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · ca gangli (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cs ganglie (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · id ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cs ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · fi hermosolmu (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · eo ganglio (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · la ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · nl ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · de Ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · kmr girêk (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cmn 神經節 /神经节 (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · fr ganglion (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · ka ნერვული კვანძი (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cmn 中心 (centre of power or authority) · ja 神経節 (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · la ganglium (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · kk жүйке түйіні (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · fi ganglio (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · gl ganglio (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · pl zwój nerwowy (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain) · cs zauzlina (collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain)