neuron

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “sinew, cord, nerve”),^[2][3][4][5] in its main sense after German Neuron, the term of the German anatomist W. Waldeyer in 1891;^[2][6] Barnhart and Etymonline give the German word as its source,^[6][7] and Merriam-Webster gives New Latin neuron.^[8] The Greek word meant a sinew or the string of a bow or musical instrument, and in Galen a nerve.^[7][3] It comes from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neu- (“tendon, sinew”), the source also of Latin nervus and so of nerve.^[7][3] The British form neurone follows French neurone (1896).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

B. T. Lowne's name for the nervous part of the compound eye of arthropods, in 1883, a sense now obsolete.^[2] In 1884 B. G. Wilder used it for the brain and spinal cord taken together.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Both early uses were short-lived;^[2] the sense that lasted, a nerve cell with its processes, came in 1891 from Waldeyer's German term.^[2][7][6] In 1893 E. A. Schäfer proposed neuron for the axon of a nerve cell, a use now disused.^[2] The spelling neurone, used only for the nerve cell, was common in Britain, but by the late 20th century neuron had become the usual form, especially in science;^[2] neurone survives mainly in British motor neurone disease.^[2] Since 1943 the word has also been used in computing for a unit of an artificial network modelled on the brain.^[2]

Timeline

• 1883 – the neural part of the compound eye of arthropods (obsolete).^[2]
• 1884 – the brain and spinal cord taken as one (obsolete by 1900).^[2][7][8]
• 1891 – a nerve cell with its processes.^[2][7][6]
• 1893 – the axon of a nerve cell (disused).^[2]
• 1943 – in computing, an element of an artificial neural network.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nerve cell, with its dendrites and axon, that carries nerve impulses.^[8][2]
2. (computing) A unit of an artificial neural network, modelled on a nerve cell.^[2]
3. (obsolete, 1884–1900) The brain and spinal cord together.^[8][2]

Word family

• neuronal
• neuronically
• interneuron
• motor neuron
• sensory neuron

Related words

• neural
• neuralgia
• neuritis
• neurology
• neuroscience
• neurosis
• nerve
• neuro-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster