'Pathetic nerve' definitions:

Definition of 'Pathetic nerve'

From: GCIDE
  • Pathetic \Pa*thet"ic\ (p[.a]*th[e^]t"[i^]k), a. [L. patheticus, Gr. paqhtiko`s, fr. paqei^n, pa`schein, to suffer: cf. F. path['e]tique. See Pathos.]
  • 1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story. "Pathetic action." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • No theory of the passions can teach a man to be pathetic. --E. Porter. [1913 Webster]
  • Pathetic muscle (Anat.), the superior oblique muscle of the eye.
  • Pathetic nerve (Anat.), the fourth cranial, or trochlear, nerve, which supplies the superior oblique, or pathetic, muscle of the eye.
  • The pathetic, a style or manner adapted to arouse the tender emotions. [1913 Webster]