PHYSIOLOGY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does physiology mean? 

• PHYSIOLOGY (noun)
  The noun PHYSIOLOGY has 2 senses:

1. the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms

2. processes and functions of an organism

  Familiarity information: PHYSIOLOGY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PHYSIOLOGY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Domain member category:

isotonic (of two or more muscles; having equal tension)

abducent; abducting (especially of muscles; drawing away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part)

adducent; adducting; adductive (especially of muscles; bringing together or drawing toward the midline of the body or toward an adjacent part)

afferent (of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying sensory information from the sense organs to the CNS)

efferent; motorial (of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying information away from the CNS)

isometric (of or involving muscular contraction in which tension increases while length remains constant)

isotonic (of or involving muscular contraction in which tension is constant while length changes)

cavernous; erectile (filled with vascular sinuses and capable of becoming distended and rigid as the result of being filled with blood)

erect; tumid (of sexual organs; stiff and rigid)

antidromic (conducting nerve impulses in a direction opposite to normal)

excitable; irritable (capable of responding to stimuli)

vegetative (relating to involuntary bodily functions)

unaerated; unoxygenated ((used of blood) not supplied with oxygen)

sympathetic (of or relating to the sympathetic nervous system)

tonic (of or relating to or producing normal tone or tonus in muscles or tissue)

parenteral (located outside the alimentary tract)

pressor (increasing (or tending to increase) blood pressure)

autacoidal (of or relating to an autacoid)

voluntary (controlled by individual volition)

involuntary (controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control)

automatic; reflex; reflexive (without volition or conscious control)

autonomic (relating to or controlled by the autonomic nervous system)

irradiation ((physiology) the spread of sensory neural impulses in the cortex)

accommodation ((physiology) the automatic adjustment in focal length of the natural lens of the eye)

adaptation ((physiology) the responsive adjustment of a sense organ (as the eye) to varying conditions (as of light))

abduction ((physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body)

adduction ((physiology) moving of a body part toward the central axis of the body)

contraction; muscle contraction; muscular contraction ((physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber))

control ((physiology) regulation or maintenance of a function or action or reflex etc)

antagonistic muscle ((physiology) a muscle that opposes the action of another)

humor; humour ((Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state)

sensibility; sensitiveness; sensitivity ((physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation)

localisation; localisation of function; localisation principle; localization; localization of function; localization principle ((physiology) the principle that specific functions have relatively circumscribed locations in some particular part or organ of the body)

irritate (excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus)

cell death; necrobiosis ((physiology) the normal degeneration and death of living cells (as in various epithelial cells))

acid-base balance; acid-base equilibrium ((physiology) the normal equilibrium between acids and alkalis in the body)

autoregulation ((physiology) processes that maintain a generally constant physiological state in a cell or organism)

inhibition ((physiology) the process whereby nerves can retard or prevent the functioning of an organ or part)

nutrition ((physiology) the organic process of nourishing or being nourished; the processes by which an organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and maintenance)

relaxation ((physiology) the gradual lengthening of inactive muscle or muscle fibers)

stimulation ((physiology) the effect of a stimulus (on nerves or organs etc.))

summation ((physiology) the process whereby multiple stimuli can produce a response (in a muscle or nerve or other part) that one stimulus alone does not produce)

homeostasis ((physiology) metabolic equilibrium actively maintained by several complex biological mechanisms that operate via the autonomic nervous system to offset disrupting changes)

innervate (stimulate to action)

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

neurophysiology (the branch of neuroscience that studies the physiology of the nervous system)

hemodynamics (the branch of physiology that studies the circulation of the blood and the forces involved)

kinesiology (the branch of physiology that studies the mechanics and anatomy in relation to human movement)

myology (the branch of physiology that studies muscles)

Derivation:

physiologic (of or consistent with an organism's normal functioning)

physiologist (a biologist specializing in physiology)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Processes and functions of an organism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

bodily property (an attribute of the body)

Domain member category:

fire (generate an electrical impulse)

facilitate (increase the likelihood of (a response))

Derivation:

physiologic; physiological (of or consistent with an organism's normal functioning)

physiological (of or relating to the biological study of physiology)

physiologist (a biologist specializing in physiology)

 Context examples 

A device problem that occurred in part or in total related to the patient's physiology.

(Device Failure Related to Patient Condition Evaluation Conclusion, Food and Drug Administration)

Components of a cell produced by various separation techniques which, though they disrupt the delicate anatomy of a cell, preserve the structure and physiology of its functioning constituents for biochemical and ultrastructural analysis.

(Cell Fraction, NCI Thesaurus)

The field of research concerned with the interaction between exercise physiology and stress.

(Exercise Physiology and Stress, NCI Thesaurus)

Interaction of the ligand-bound receptor with target molecules is altered, which leads to changes in cellular physiology through modification of the activity of one or more signal transduction pathways.

(Cytoplasmic Receptor, NCI Thesaurus)

The anatomy and physiology of the human spleen differ from that of common laboratory animal models.

(How the spleen keeps blood healthy, NIH)

While these three proteins are distinct in their sequence and physiology, and act through different cell surface receptors, they share in a common class of cell surface receptors called G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).

(Bioactive Peptide Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The scientific discipline concerned with the physiology of the nervous system.

(Neurophysiology, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

An image artifact that results in unexpected signals due to patient physiology or problem metabolizing an imaging agent.

(Physiologic or Metabolic Artifact, NCI Thesaurus)

Factors, produced by the body, which regulate some aspect of physiology.

(Physiology-Regulatory Factor, NCI Thesaurus)

"We show that the physiology of the plants matters," Anderegg says.

(How trees affect the weather, National Science Foundation)