Notochord

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Notochord \No"to*chord\, n. [Gr. nw^ton the back + E. chord.]
     (Anat.)
     An elastic cartilagelike rod which is developed beneath the
     medullary groove in the vertebrate embryo, and constitutes
     the primitive axial skeleton around which the centra of the
     vertebrae and the posterior part of the base of the skull are


     developed; the {chorda dorsalis}. See Illust. of {Ectoderm}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  notochord
       n : a flexible rodlike structure that forms the supporting axis
           of the body in the lowest chordates and lowest
           vertebrates and in embryos of higher vertebrates