plural glia
: supporting tissue intermingled with the essential elements of nervous tissue especially in the brain, spinal cord, and ganglia

Examples of glia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The team is particularly interested in what part some non-neuronal cells called glia play in the central nervous system, in addition to immune cells. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 15 Aug. 2024 There are cells called glia that support the nerve functions. Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 23 May 2024 Those gut feelings are driven by enteric nerve cells, including glia. Yasemin Saplakoglu, WIRED, 14 Jan. 2024 Even as excitement builds about glia in the enteric nervous system, scientists like Scavuzzo have fairly basic questions still to work out—such as how many types of enteric glia even exist. Yasemin Saplakoglu, WIRED, 14 Jan. 2024 See all Example Sentences for glia 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'glia.' 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 Middle Greek, glue — more at clay

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of glia was in 1891

Dictionary Entries Near glia

Cite this Entry

“Glia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glia. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Medical Definition

plural glia
: supporting tissue that is intermingled with the essential elements of nervous tissue especially in the brain, spinal cord, and ganglia, is either of ectodermal or mesodermal origin, and is composed of a network of fine fibrils and of flattened stellate cells with numerous radiating fibrillar processes see macroglia, microglia
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