Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Dorsal |
DorsalAdjective1. Belonging to or on or near the back or upper surface of an animal or organ or part; "the dorsal fin is the vertical fin on the back of a fish and certain marine mammals". 2. (biology) facing away from the axis of an organ or organism; "the abaxial surface of a leaf is the underside or side facing away from the stem". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "dorsal" was first used: sometime in the early 14th century. (references) |
Etymology: Dorsal \Dor"sal\, adjective. [French dorsal, Late Latin dorsalis, from Latin dorsualis, from dorsum back; compare to Greek mountain ridge. Compare to Dorse, Dorsel, Dosel.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Aerospace | Pertaining to the back. (references) |
Health | 1. pertaining to the back or to any dorsum. 2. denoting a position more toward the back surface than some other object of reference; same as posterior in human anatomy; superior in the anatomy of quadrupeds. (references) |
Language | Towards the back. Source: European Union. (references) |
Science | The back or upper surface, the surface facing away from the axis; of a thallus, the 'back', i.e. the side facing away from the substratum. cf. ventral. (references) |
Transportation | The upper surface of a vehicle body. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: DorsalSynonym: abaxial (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: adaxial (adj), ventral (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Rear | Occiput, nape, chine; heels; tail, rump, croup, buttock, posteriors, backside scut, breech, dorsum, loin; dorsal region, lumbar region; hind quarters; aitchbone; natch, natch bone. |
Adjective: back, rear; hind, hinder, hindmost, hindermost; postern, posterior; dorsal, after; caudal, lumbar; mizzen, tergal. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Note the herpetic lesions on the palmar surface of the left ring finger. Living in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord, under stressful conditions, the herpes viruses migrate along the pathways of peripheral nerve distribution. Credit: CDC. |  | This patient had developed a perforating ulcer of great toe resulting from tabes dorsalis, a form of neurosyphilis. This condition results from the destruction of the dorsal columns in the spinal cord, normally responsible for ones position sense. Credit: CDC. |
 | Photo #1.Cross-section of first spine of dorsal fin of young bluefin tuna showing annual growth rings. These rings are similar to tree growth rings. The wide (brown) areas represent summer growth during periods of high food intake. The narrow (white) bands represent periods of less fast growth during the winter when the fish's metabolism slows. Credit: Fisheries. |  | Cross-section of first spine of dorsal fin of a one-year old bluefin tuna. This image is greatly magnified. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | The introduction of toxins into the marine environment have drastic effects on the organisms that live there. This English sole has an ulcerated dorsal fin. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | Nudibranch. 24 and 25. Hopkinsia rosacea MacFarland - dorsal and lateral views . Views painted by Anna B. Nash of the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory. In: "Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Monterey Bay ....", Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, Volume 25, 1905. P. 151, Plate XXXI. Credit: Treasures of the Library. |
 | Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Hermissenda, Hermissenda crassicornis, also known as the Opalescent Sea Slug, is found in a variety of habitats including mud flats, rocky shores and wharf pilings. Its body is up to 80 mm long. Its dorsal surface has a single orange stripe and bright "electric blue lines, but otherwise is variable in color. Kodiak to Baja California. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |  | Pterois sphex - Lionfish - Dorsal spines are extremely poisonous Living in pipe in artificial reef. Credit: The Coral Kingdom. |
 | Dorsal view of the urchin, Heterocentrotus mammilatus. Credit: The Coral Kingdom. |  | Sea urchin, dorsal view of test. Credit: The Coral Kingdom. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Those in more dorsal positions are exposed to lesser concentrations and become, respectively, motor neurons and interneurons. (references) | |
Spinal dorsal rhizotomy in which the surgeon cuts the root or rootlets of one or more of the nerves radiating from the spine. (references) | ||
Along the dorsal root are the cells of the dorsal root ganglia, which are critical in the transmission of "pain" messages from the cord to the brain. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Dorsal" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.48% of the time. "Dorsal" is used about 132 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.48% | 130 | 28,019 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.76% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 0.76% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 132 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "dorsal": dorsal chute ♦ dorsal fin ♦ dorsal scapular vein ♦ dorsal spine ♦ dorsal tabes ♦ dorsal tentacles ♦ dorsal vertebra ♦ Dorsal vessel ♦ soft dorsal. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "dorsal": mid-dorsal, postero-dorsal. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "dorsal"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | dorsal, tingull dorsal, shpinor (spinal, tergal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ظهري (meridian, midday), بعيد عن المحور. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | украса на облегалото на трон, гръбен (posterior, retral, tergal), завеса в дъното на олтара, дорсален (tergal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 背部, 舌 (back of tongue, tongue root). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | dorzální, zádový, hřbetní. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | dorsal (dorsad). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | dorsaal. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | پشتی(تش.). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | selkä (back, open lake, ridge). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | dorsal (dorsad). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | dorsal (spinal), rücken- (spinal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ράχησ, ραχιαίοσ, ραχιαίος, νωτιαίοσ (spinal, tergal), νωτιαίος (spinal cord). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | של "'ב, 'בי (back hand, of the back). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | háti (tergal), háton levő, hát-. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | tentang punggung. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | dorsale (back, crest, ridge). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 背鰭 (dorsal fin), 背筋 (back seam, dorsal muscles, seam in the back, spinal column, the muscles along the spine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | せすじ (back seam, dorsal muscles, seam in the back, spinal column, the muscles along the spine), せびれ (dorsal fin), はいき" (back seam, dorsal muscles, mammon worship, money-worship, seam in the back, spinal column, the muscles along the spine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | "쪽. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | drommey (ridge). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | orsalday dorsal (tergal). (various references) dorsal (tergal). (various references) спинной (spinal, tergal). (various references) dorzalni, leđni (back, tergal). (various references) dorsal (ridge). (various references) dorsal, rygg-. (various references) เกี่ยวกับส่วนหลัง. (various references) sırtta olan, sırta ait, sırt biçimli, sırt (back, dors-, dorso-, ridge, saddle, shoulder), arkaya ait (tergal). (various references) спинний хребець, спинний плавець, спинний (spinal). (various references) ở mặt lưng hình sống lưng. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | dorsualis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "dorsal": dorsally, dorsals. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "dorsal": middorsal. (additional references) | |
| |
"Dorsal" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Derzhala, dirsa, dobras, Dobroslav, Doras, dorasal, Dormael, D'ormale, dorsals, dorsar, dorsay, dorso, dosaaf, Dosell, dosil, douras, doysal, D'oysel, droal, dural, duras, Durzak, norsal, Torsvale. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "dorsal" (pronounced dô"rsul) |
| 5 | -ô" r s u l | morsel. |
| 4 | -r s u l | parcel. |
| 3 | -s u l | antimissile, apostle, Axel, axle, basal, brasil, bristle, bustle, cancel, capsule, Castle, colossal, consul, council, counsel, diesel, dismissal, dispersal, docile, epistle, facile, fissile, fossil, gracile, gristle, Hansel, Hassel, hassle, housel, hustle, imbecile, jostle, microfossil, missal, missel, missile, mucosal, muscle, mussel, Nestle, Passel, pencil, pixel, Proconsul, rehearsal, reversal, rustle, stencil, tassel, Tattersall, tensile, Tercel, Thistle, tinsel, tonsil, Tressel, trestle, tussle, universal, unsell, utensil, vassal, vessel, whistle, wrestle. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-l-o-r-s" | |
-1 letter: dorsa, lards, loads, lords, orals, roads, sarod, solar. | |
-2 letters: ados, also, dals, dols, dors, lads, lard, lars, load, lord, oars, olds, orad, oral, osar, rads, road, rods, sard, soar, soda, sola, sold, sora, sord. | |
-3 letters: ado, ads, als, ars, dal, dol, dor, dos, lad, lar, las, oar, ods, old, ora, ors, rad, ras. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-l-o-r-s" | |
+1 letter: dollars, dorsals, holards, ladrons, lardons, loaders, ordeals, reloads, sudoral. | |
+2 letters: armloads, bollards, caldrons, carloads, collards, cordials, darioles, delators, dilators, dorsally, earldoms, foulards, goldarns, goliards, jarldoms, kilorads, labroids, ladrones, lardoons, leopards, leotards, loadstar, lodestar, lordomas, malodors, norlands, ordinals, pollards, poulards, roadless, roulades, solander, solidary, trolands, warlords. | |
+3 letters: adulators, arduously, arillodes, banderols, beadrolls, blowhards, cartloads, cauldrons, chaldrons, chlordans, clochards, coalyards, colanders, coleaders, conelrads, corydalis, croplands, deflators, desolater, desolator, dialogers, doornails, dropsical, estradiol, falderols, forbidals, forelands, freeloads, gasholder, gladsomer, hydrolase, idolaters, idolators, ironclads, labradors, landforms, landlords, lapboards, larboards, laudators, leadworks, leadworts, leeboards, loadstars, loanwords, lodestars, marigolds, middorsal, moldwarps, moorlands, moralised, oleanders, overlades, overlands, overloads, pauldrons, polarised, poulardes, prodigals, prolapsed, railroads, reloaders, remolades, roadkills, sailboard, solanders, solarised, solarized, steroidal, swordplay, swordtail, thraldoms, unloaders, valorised, woodlarks, wordplays, workloads. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)44 6F 72 73 61 6C |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-.. --- .-. ... .- .-.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000100 01101111 01110010 01110011 01100001 01101100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)D o r s a l |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0044 006F 0072 0073 0061 006C |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)388184856778 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Translations: Ancient | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
