nervous system

English

An overview of the human nervous system.

Etymology

1703, nervous +‎ system.

Noun

nervous system (plural nervous systems)

1. An organ system whose principal constituent is nervous tissue that coordinates the activities of muscles, monitors organs, constructs and processes data received from the senses, and initiates actions.

   Synonym: systema nervosum

   Meronyms: brain, brainstem, ganglion, nerve, spinal cord

   • 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5:

     Sudden anger rose in him. “What I’m looking for,” he barked, “is to be left in peace.” His voice trembled with a rage far bigger than her intrusion merited, the rage which shocked him whenever it coursed through his nervous system, like a flood.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Biotics: Biotic Amps Codex entry:

     Biotics manipulate mass effect fields using dozens of element zero nodules within their nervous system that react to electric stimuli from the brain. Amplifiers allow biotics to synchronize the nodules so they can form fields large and strong enough for practical use.

Derived terms

• autonomic nervous system
• central nervous system
• enteric nervous system
• peripheral nervous system

Translations

system which coordinates the activity of the body

• Arabic: جِهَاز عَصَبِيّ m (jihāz ʕaṣabiyy)

  Egyptian Arabic: جهاز عصبي m (gehāz ʕaṣabī)

• Armenian: նյարդային համակարգ (hy) (nyardayin hamakarg)
• Asturian: sistema nerviosu m
• Azerbaijani: sinir sistemi (az)
• Catalan: sistema nerviós m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 神經系統 / 神经系统 (san⁴ ging¹ hai⁶ tung²)

  Hakka: 神經系統 / 神经系统 (sṳ̀n-kîn he-thúng)

  Hokkien: 神經系統 / 神经系统 (sîn-keng-hē-thóng)

  Mandarin: 神經系統 / 神经系统 (zh) (shénjīng xìtǒng)

• Czech: nervová soustava (cs) f, nervstvo n
• Danish: nervesystem
• Dutch: zenuwstelsel (nl) n, zenuwgestel (nl) n
• Esperanto: nerva sistemo
• Finnish: hermosto (fi) n
• French: système nerveux (fr) m
• Galician: sistema nervioso (gl) m
• Georgian: ნერვული სისტემა (nervuli sisṭema)
• German: Nervensystem (de) n
• Greek: νευρικό σύστημα (el) n (nevrikó sýstima)
• Hebrew: מערכת העצבים (he) f (maarékhet ha-atsabím)
• Hindi: तंत्रिका तंत्र m (tantrikā tantra)
• Hungarian: idegrendszer (hu)
• Icelandic: taugakerfi (is) n
• Irish: néarchóras m
• Italian: sistema nervoso (it) m
• Japanese: 神経系 (ja) (しんけいけい, shinkeikei)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: koendama demarê f

• Latin: systēma nervōsum n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nervesystem n

  Nynorsk: nervesystem n

• Polish: układ nerwowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: sistema nervoso (pt) m
• Romanian: sistem nervos (ro) n
• Russian: не́рвная систе́ма (ru) f (nérvnaja sistéma)
• Spanish: sistema nervioso m
• Swahili: mfumo wa neva
• Swedish: nervsystem (sv) n
• Tagalog: kaayusang-dagandam
• Telugu: నాడీమండలము (nāḍīmaṇḍalamu)
• Turkish: sinir sistemi (tr)
• Ukrainian: нерво́ва систе́ма f (nervóva systéma)
• Vietnamese: hệ thần kinh
• Volapük: nevasitot

Further reading

• Gray, Henry (1918) “Neurology”, in Anatomy of the Human Body‎^[1], 20th edition, Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, published 2000, →ISBN, retrieved 11 December 2009
• “nervous system”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “nervous system, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “nervous system”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “nervous system” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.