Wiktionary

hodophobic

English edit

WOTD – 6 July 2021

Etymology edit

From hodo- (prefix meaning ‘path, road; travel’) +‎ -phobic (suffix forming adjectives indicating an aversion or dislike, or a fear of a specific thing). Hodo- is derived from Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós, “path, road, way; journey”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”); while -phobic is from -phobia (from Late Latin -phobia, from Koine Greek -φοβία (-phobía), ultimately from Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “alarm, fear, terror”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰegʷ- (“to flee, run”)) + -ic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ from nouns).

Sense 1 (“of the dendrites of neurons: tending not to form branches”) was possibly coined by Enrique Ramón-Moliner and Walle Nauta in a 1966 article: see the quotation.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

hodophobic (comparative more hodophobic, superlative most hodophobic)

  1. (neurology) Of the dendrites of neurons: tending not to form branches. [from late 20th c.]
    Antonym: hodophilic
    • 1966 March, E[nrique] Ramón-Moliner, W[alle] J[etze] H[arinx] Nauta, “The Isodendritic Core of the Brain Stem”, in The Journal of Comparative Neurology, volume 126, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Wiley-Liss, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, page 315, column 2; reprinted in Neuroanatomy: Selected Papers of Walle J. H. Nauta (Contemporary Neuroscientists: Selected Papers of Leaders in Brain Research), Boston, Mass., Basel: Birkhäuser, 1993, →DOI, →ISBN, part III (General Organization of the Central Nervous System), page 242, column 2:
      The majority of the territories usually included in the brain stem reticular formation exhibit the characteristic of "hodophilic" dendrites, in contrast to, for example, the inferior olive and pontine nuclei in which the dendrites are rarely found to extend into fiber bundles and could thus be described as "hodophobic."
    • 1968, E[nrique] Ramón-Moliner, “The Morphology of Dendrites”, in Geoffrey H[oward] Bourne, editor, The Structure and Function of Nervous Tissue, volume I (Structure I), New York, N.Y., London: Academic Press, →OCLC, pages 234–235:
      The dendrites of the pontine neurons are not as "hodophobic" as those of the inferior olivary nucleus.
    • 1997, R[udolf] Nieuwenhuys, H[endrik] J[an] ten Donkelaar, C[harles] Nicholson, “Structure and Organisation of Centres”, in The Central Nervous System of Vertebrates, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 49, column 2:
      Ramón-Moliner and Nauta (1966) designated the closed nuclei, in which dendrites do not extend into adjacent fibre bundles, as ‘hodophobic’.
    • 2000 February 7, Anna Robak, “The Neuronal Structure of the Mamillary Nuclei in Guinea Pig: Nissl, Klüver-Barrera and Golgi Studies”, in Folia Morphologica‎[1], volume 59, number 2, Gdańsk, Poland: Via Medica, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, archived from the original on 30 May 2021, page 109, column 1:
      This dendritic pattern corresponds to the hodophobic tendencies of allodendritic neurons found in the analogue nucleus of cat,[sic] but in the guinea pig these neurons are weakly branched.
    • 2012, Changiz Geula, M[arek-]Marsel Mesulam, “Brainstem Cholinergic Systems”, in Jürgen K[onrad] Mai, George Paxinos, editors, The Human Nervous System, 3rd edition, London, Waltham, Mass.: Academic Press, →DOI, →ISBN, part III (Brainstem and Cerebellum), page 456, column 2:
      Ramon-Moliner and Nauta (Ramon-Moliner and Nauta, 1966) proposed division of brainstem nuclei into two major groups: (1) "closed" nuclei with relatively homogeneous perikaryal morphology and specialized, hodophobic dendrites that remain confined to nuclear boundaries; and (2) "open" nuclei with non-specialized (isodendritic) and overlapping dendritic branches, considerable cytological heterogeneity, and hodophilic tendency for spread into nearby fiber bundles.
  2. (psychiatry) Suffering from hodophobia; pathologically afraid of travel.
    Antonym: hodophilic
    • 1990 April, Denise Hastings, “Maybe I Do Have a Phobia, but So Does Everyone, Right?”, in Josie F[ernandez] Jackson, editor, In Formation, volume II, number 4, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.: Public Affairs Office, 403rd Tactical Airlift Wing, →OCLC, page 2, column 3:
      Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology, was hodophobic, afraid of traveling.
    • 1995, Mademoiselle: The Magazine for the Smart Young Woman, volume 101, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      Estimates of the number of hodophobic Americans—ranging from those who drive, ride or fly with white knuckles to those who don't travel at all—run as high as 10 percent of the population.
    • 1995, Maureen Stapleton, Jane Scovell, chapter 10, in A Hell of a Life: An Autobiography, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 249:
      Everybody, including the hodophobic, inebriated Maureen Stapleton, arrived in New York very, very happy.
    • 1999 May, “Yeah, We’re Carophobics [advertisement]”, in Thom Hogan, editor, Backpacker: The Magazine of Wilderness Travel, volume 27, issue 177, number 4, Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13:
      Cars are small. Too small. Your dog gets claustrophobic. Your gear gets cleisiophobic (fear of being locked in small, enclosed spaces). Your significant other gets hodophobic (fear of road travel). It's enough to make you lyssophobic (fear of going mad). Which is just another way of saying, at Isuzu, we're carophobic. That's why we make the surprisingly spacious Isuzu Rodeo.
    • 2008, Mike Mayo, “Bender Family”, in American Murder: Criminals, Crime, and the Media, Canton, Miss.: Visible Ink Press, →ISBN, page 32, column 1:
      [O]f course, the murderous innkeeper is a stereotype in hodophobic (fear of road travel) horror and suspense novels and films.

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