ganglion

/ˈɡæŋ.ɡli.ən/

ganglion noun: an encapsulated collection of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses, and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber.

Noun

ganglion (plural ganglia or ganglions)

An encapsulated collection of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses, and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber.
- [T]he wonderfully diversified instincts, mental powers, and affections of ants are generally known, yet their cerebral ganglia are not so large as the quarter of a small pin's head.1871, Charles Darwin, “On the Manner of Development of Man from some Lower Form”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part I (On...
Any of certain masses of gray matter in the central nervous system, as the basal ganglia.
- The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are...2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
Synonyms:

nucleus
(transferred sense) A centre of intellectual or industrial force, activity, etc.
A benign cystic tumour on a tendon sheath or joint capsule.

Synonyms:

ganglion cyst

ganglion meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Arabic and Indonesian

ganglion in Tamil

நரம்பணுக் கூட்டம், நரம்புக் கணு, முடிச்சு, திரட்டு, நரம்பணுமுண்டு, நரம்பு முடிச்சு

ganglion in Kannada

ನರಗ್ರಂಥಿ, ನರದ ಗಂಟು

ganglion in Arabic

collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain: عُقْدَة عَصَبِيَّة ʕuqda ʕaṣabiyya

ganglion in Indonesian

collection of nerve cell bodies outside the brain: ganglion

More languagesFewer languages

ganglion in Persian: گانگلیون gângeliyon

Examples of ganglion in a sentence

Pigmented villonodular synovitis, localized nodular synovitis, and complex ganglion were suggested as possible differential diagnoses.
First, a single large ganglion near the base of each arm colabeled.
It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what.

All 25 example sentences with ganglion

Synonyms of ganglion

Forms of ganglion

plural	ganglia
plural	ganglions

Plural of ganglion: ganglia or ganglions

Origin of ganglion

Borrowed from Ancient Greek γᾰγγλῐ́ον (gănglĭ́on, “encysted tumour on a tendon or aponeurosis”).

Phrases with ganglion

Words that rhyme with ganglion

Questions about ganglion

What does ganglion mean?: Ganglion means an encapsulated collection of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses, and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber.
What is ganglion in Tamil?: Ganglion in Tamil is நரம்பணுக் கூட்டம், நரம்புக் கணு, முடிச்சு. See Ganglion meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is ganglion?: Ganglion is a noun.
How do you pronounce ganglion?: Ganglion is pronounced /ˈɡæŋ.ɡli.ən/.
What is the plural of ganglion?: The plural of ganglion is ganglia.

Words near ganglion in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: ganglion (page history and authors); ganglion (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ganglion (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ganglion.wav.

Cite this entry: “ganglion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ganglion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.