fasciculus

noun

fas·​cic·​u·​lus fə-ˈsi-kyə-ləs How to pronounce fasciculus (audio)
fa-
plural fasciculi fə-ˈsi-kyə-ˌlī How to pronounce fasciculus (audio)
fa-
1
: a slender bundle of anatomical fibers (such as nerve fibers)
2

Examples of fasciculus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF) debuted in an atlas by German psychiatrist and anatomist Carl Wernicke in 1881. Jenny Blair, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2015 The vertical occipital fasciculus, or VOF, is identified in a postmortem human brain in 1909, but labeled with a different name. Jenny Blair, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2015 But the children in the two groups exhibited differences in the arcuate fasciculus and the ILF: In strong readers, these nerve connections started weak, then strengthened; the neuron bundles got more myelinated. Ashley P. Taylor, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2012 This scan shows the difference between a control brain scan (yellow) and the scan of vets (red) in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Florence Williams, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2014 In particular, damage to a bundle of axons called the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus correlated with the severity of pain and fatigue. Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2013 Our mental calendar involves circuits in the left angular gyrus, important for sequence discrimination and connected to the same hippocampal place cell or grid cell via a band of fibers: the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Scientific American, 1 June 2020 This view shows the three major tracts involved with language and literacy skills: the arcuate fasciculus, shaded in white, which connects brain areas involved with receptive and expressive language. Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 4 Nov. 2019 Connecting Broca’s area with Wernicke’s is a neural network: a thick, curving bundle of billions of nerve fibres, the arcuate fasciculus, which integrates the production and the comprehension of language. Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 25 May 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fasciculus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fasciculus was in 1713

Dictionary Entries Near fasciculus

Cite this Entry

“Fasciculus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fasciculus. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Medical Definition

fasciculus

noun
fas·​cic·​u·​lus fə-ˈsik-yə-ləs, fa- How to pronounce fasciculus (audio)
plural fasciculi -ˌlī How to pronounce fasciculus (audio)
: a slender bundle of anatomical fibers:
a
: a bundle of skeletal muscle cells surrounded by perimysium and forming one of the constituent elements of a muscle
b
: a bundle of nerve fibers surrounded by perineurium
specifically : a bundle of nerve fibers having a common origin, termination, and function : tract sense 2
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