molecular layern.
/məˌlɛkjᵿlə ˈleɪə/, U.S. /məˌlɛkjələr ˈleɪər/, /məˌlɛkjələr ˈlɛ(ə)r/ 1. A layer of molecules.
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1853 Sci. Amer. 3 Sept. 403/2 In water the radius of effective cohesive action must be so great as to include several molecular layers.
1964 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 8 149 Both faces of the bilayer are presumed to be covered with a molecular layer of protein.
1993 D. Burrus & R. Gittines Technotrends (1994) 329 A second process, molecular beam epitaxy, uses a semiconductor fabrication process to build up devices one molecular layer at a time.
2. Histology. Any of several layers of neural tissue composed chiefly of the terminal branchings of axons and dendrites, with relatively few cell bodies (also called plexiform layer); esp. (a) either of two such layers of the retina; (b) the outermost layer of the cerebral and cerebellar cortex. Cf. molecular adj. 2.
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the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > retina > layers of
Jacob's membrane1842
plexiform layer1856
molecular layer1867
pigment epithelium1872
pigment layer1872
the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > cortex > parts of
molecular layer1867
motor cortex1880
Wernicke's area1887
operculum1889
map1945
1867 Quain's Elements Anat. (ed. 7) III. 726 The retina..exhibits a series of dissimilar strata, together with structures not confined to one stratum. (1st) Externally is the columnar layer; (2nd), in the middle is the granular layer, comprising the external nuclear, the internuclear, the internal nuclear, and the molecular layers; and (3rd) internally is the nervous layer.
1874 A. E. J. Barker tr. H. Frey Histol. & Histochem. of Man 593 Externally—that is, directed towards the surface of the cerebellum—these large ganglion cells send off several (generally two) characteristic protoplasm processes through the so-called ‘molecular layer of Hess’.
1909 Arch. Neurol. & Psychiatry 4 162 It is evident that it consists of two layers (I do not speak of the molecular layer in this short note).
1955 P. D. Trevor-Roper Ophthalmol. i. 19 The outer molecular layer is a reticular layer in which the end-knobs of the axons of the rod and cone cells arborise with the dendrites of the bipolar cells.
1955 P. D. Trevor-Roper Ophthalmol. i. 20 The inner molecular layer consists of the arborisations of the axes of the bipolar cells with the dendrites of the ganglion cells.
1968 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxiv. 46/1 In the older parts of the [cerebral] cortex, such as the rhinencephalon, only three layers of cells may be distinguished: the superficial molecular layer of fibres, the intermediate granular layer and a deep layer of pyramidal cells.
1999 Dogs in Canada July 105/1 In many areas of the cerebellum, the molecular layer was very thin.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1853