'Dorsal' definitions:
Definition of 'dorsal'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Belonging to or on or near the back or upper surface of an animal or organ or part; "the dorsal fin is the vertical fin on the back of a fish and certain marine mammals" [ant: ventral]
adjective
Definition of 'Dorsal'
From: GCIDE
- Dorsal \Dor"sal\, n. [LL. dorsale, neut. fr. dorsalis. See Dorsal, a.] (Fine Arts) A hanging, usually of rich stuff, at the back of a throne, or of an altar, or in any similar position. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Dorsal'
From: GCIDE
- Dorsal \Dor"sal\, a. [F. dorsal, LL. dorsalis, fr. L. dorsualis, fr. dorsum back; cf. Gr. ?, ?, mountain ridge. Cf. Dorse, Dorsel, Dosel.]
- 1. (Anat.) Pertaining to, or situated near, the back, or dorsum, of an animal or of one of its parts; notal; tergal; neural; as, the dorsal fin of a fish; the dorsal artery of the tongue; -- opposed to ventral. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Bot.) (a) Pertaining to the surface naturally inferior, as of a leaf. (b) Pertaining to the surface naturally superior, as of a creeping hepatic moss. [1913 Webster]
- Dorsal vessel (Zool.), a central pulsating blood vessel along the back of insects, acting as a heart. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'dorsal'
From: GCIDE
- Posterior \Pos*te"ri*or\ (p[o^]s*t[=e]"r[i^]*[~e]r), a. [L. posterior, compar. of posterus coming after, from post after. See Post-.]
- 1. Later in time; hence, later in the order of proceeding or moving; coming after; -- opposed to prior. [1913 Webster]
- Hesiod was posterior to Homer. --Broome. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Situated behind; hinder; -- opposed to anterior. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Anat.) At or toward the caudal extremity; caudal; -- in human anatomy often used for dorsal. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Bot.) On the side next the axis of inflorescence; -- said of an axillary flower. --Gray. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'dorsal'
From: GCIDE
- Neural \Neu"ral\, a. [Gr. ney^ron nerve.] (Anat. & Zool.) relating to the nerves or nervous system; taining to, situated in the region of, or on the side with, the neural, or cerebro-spinal, axis; -- opposed to hemal. As applied to vertebrates, neural is the same as dorsal; as applied to invertebrates it is usually the same as ventral. Cf. Hemal. [1913 Webster]
- Neural arch (Anat.), the cartilaginous or bony arch on the dorsal side of the centrum of the vertebra in a segment of the spinal skeleton, usually inclosing a segment of the spinal cord. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'dorsal'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accented,
- alveolar,
- apical,
- apico-alveolar,
- apico-dental,
- articulated,
- assimilated,
- back,
- barytone,
- bilabial,
- broad,
- cacuminal,
- central,
- cerebral,
- checked,
- close,
- consonant,
- consonantal,
- continuant,
- dental,
- dissimilated,
- flat,
- front,
- glide,
- glossal,
- glottal,
- gluteal,
- guttural,
- hard,
- heavy,
- high,
- intonated,
- labial,
- labiodental,
- labiovelar,
- lateral,
- lax,
- light,
- lingual,
- liquid,
- low,
- lumbar,
- mid,
- monophthongal,
- muted,
- narrow,
- nasal,
- nasalized,
- occipital,
- occlusive,
- open,
- oxytone,
- palatal,
- palatalized,
- pharyngeal,
- pharyngealized,
- phonemic,
- phonetic,
- phonic,
- pitch,
- pitched,
- posterial,
- posttonic,
- retral,
- retroflex,
- rounded,
- sciatic,
- semivowel,
- soft,
- sonant,
- stopped,
- stressed,
- strong,
- surd,
- syllabic,
- tense,
- tergal,
- thick,
- throaty,
- tonal,
- tonic,
- twangy,
- unaccented,
- unrounded,
- unstressed,
- velar,
- vocalic,
- vocoid,
- voiced,
- voiceless,
- vowel,
- vowellike,
- weak,
- wide