dorsal
/ˈdɔːs(ə)l
/adjective Anatomy, Zoology, & Botany
On or relating to the upper side or back of an animal, plant, or organ: a dorsal view of the body the dorsal aorta...Compare with ventral.
- Just outside each vertebra, the dorsal and ventral roots unite to form a spinal nerve on each side.
- Such a wasp held the fly with the middle and hind legs head forward and ventral or dorsal side up.
- If either of these proteins is absent, then the motor axons select dorsal and ventral pathways randomly.
Derivatives
dorsally
- In insects, as in all arthropods, the main nerve cord lies ventrally, rather than dorsally as in vertebrates.
- During the surgery, care must be taken to protect the branches of the superficial and radial nerves that dorsally overlie the first dorsal compartment.
- This animal swims to escape predators by repeatedly flexing its body dorsally and ventrally.
Origin
Late Middle English: from late Latin dorsalis, from Latin dorsum 'back'.