CORTEX (cortices)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: cortices   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cortex mean? 

• CORTEX (noun)
  The noun CORTEX has 3 senses:

1. the layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum

2. the tissue forming the outer layer of an organ or structure in plant or animal

3. the tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus

  Familiarity information: CORTEX used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CORTEX (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cerebral cortex; cerebral mantle; cortex; pallium

Hypernyms ("cortex" is a kind of...):

neural structure (a structure that is part of the nervous system)

Meronyms (parts of "cortex"):

frontal cortex; frontal lobe (that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying directly behind the forehead)

temporal cortex; temporal lobe (that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying inside the temples of the head)

occipital cortex; occipital lobe (that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying in the back of the head)

parietal cortex; parietal lobe (that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying below the crown of the head)

prefrontal cortex; prefrontal lobe (the anterior part of the frontal lobe)

cortical area; cortical region (any of various regions of the cerebral cortex)

Golgi's cell; Golgi cell (a neuron in the cerebral cortex with short dendrites and with either a long axon or a short axon that ramifies in the grey matter)

Meronyms (substance of "cortex"):

gray matter; gray substance; grey matter; grey substance; substantia grisea (greyish nervous tissue containing cell bodies as well as fibers; forms the cerebral cortex consisting of unmyelinated neurons)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cortex"):

neocortex; neopallium (the cortical part of the neencephalon)

archipallium; paleocortex (the olfactory cortex of the cerebrum)

Holonyms ("cortex" is a part of...):

cerebrum (anterior portion of the brain consisting of two hemispheres; dominant part of the brain in humans)

Derivation:

cortical (of or relating to a cortex)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The tissue forming the outer layer of an organ or structure in plant or animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("cortex" is a kind of...):

animal tissue (the tissue in the bodies of animals)

plant tissue (the tissue of a plant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cortex"):

adrenal cortex (the cortex of the adrenal gland; secretes corticosterone and sex hormones)

renal cortex (the cortex of the kidney containing the glomeruli and the convoluted tubules)

Antonym:

medulla (the inner part of an organ or structure in plant or animal)

Derivation:

cortical (of or relating to a cortex)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cortex; lens cortex

Hypernyms ("cortex" is a kind of...):

animal tissue (the tissue in the bodies of animals)

Holonyms ("cortex" is a part of...):

crystalline lens; lens; lens of the eye (biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focus light on the retina)

 Context examples 

An adenoma of the adrenal cortex composed of neoplastic cells with cytologic features of glomerulosa cells.

(Adrenal Cortex Glomerulosa Cell Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign or malignant (primary or metastatic) neoplasm affecting the adrenal cortex.

(Adrenal Cortex Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A neoplasm of the adrenal cortex in which the malignancy status has not been established.

(Adrenal Cortex Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

An endocrine glandular cell located on the surface of the adrenal gland (adrenal cortex).

(Adrenal Cortical Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

An adenoma of the adrenal cortex composed of neoplastic clear cells containing intracytoplasmic lipid droplets.

(Adrenal Cortex Clear Cell Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

They looked at variation in the thickness of the cortex, the outermost layer of the brain, and linked this to gene activity in the brain.

(Scientists link genes to brain anatomy in autism, University of Cambridge)

These scans showed that neural activity patterns in another brain region, the prefrontal cortex, distinguished between categories and that subjects used that information to make their judgments.

(How does the brain learn categorization for sounds? The same way it does for images, National Science Foundation)

An endocrine or hormonal disorder that occurs when the adrenal cortex does not produce enough of the hormone cortisol and in some cases, the hormone aldosterone.

(Adrenal Cortical Insufficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

Epinephrine and norepinephrine from the medulla and steroid hormones from the cortex.

(Adrenal Fluid or Secretion, NCI Thesaurus)

An adenoma of the adrenal cortex characterized by the absence of a hormonal syndrome or symptoms suggestive of adrenal disease.

(Non-Functioning Adrenal Cortex Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)