dorsal

English

Alternative forms

• (hanging): dossal

Etymology

From Late Middle English dorsal/dorsale, borrowing from Medieval Latin dorsālis (“of or relating to the back”), from dorsum (“the back”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to dorsum +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔː.səl/, /ˈdɔː.sl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɹ.səl/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

Adjective

dorsal (comparative more dorsal, superlative most dorsal)

1. (anatomy, zootomy) With respect to, or concerning the side in which the backbone is located, or the analogous side of an invertebrate.
   1. (anatomy) Relating to the top surface of the foot or hand.
   2. (linguistics, of a sound) Produced using the dorsum of the tongue.

      Coordinate terms: coronal, labial, laryngeal, radical

2. (of a knife) Having only one sharp side.
3. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally inferior, as of a leaf.
4. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally superior, as of a creeping hepatic moss.

Usage notes

• The meanings of dorsal and ventral in botany are somewhat arbitrary, since in botanical usage the concept of a front or back surface is not clearly defined. Compare abaxial, adaxial.

Antonyms

• ventral

Coordinate terms

human anatomy direction adjectivesedit

• anterior
• distal
• dorsal
• lateral
• medial
• posterior
• proximal
• ventral

Derived terms

• anterodorsal, anteriodorsal
• apicodorsal
• basidorsal
• bidorsal
• caudodorsal
• centrodorsal
• cervicodorsal
• craniodorsal
• distodorsal
• dorsal body hormone
• dorsal fin
• dorsal hood
• dorsalisation
• dorsalization
• dorsalize, dorsalise
• dorsally
• dorsalmost
• dorsal nasal artery
• dorsal root
• dorsal root ganglion
• dorsal slit
• dorsal striatum
• dorsal vessel
• dorsalward, dorsalwards
• holodorsal
• humerodorsal
• interdorsal
• intermediodorsal
• labiodorsal
• laterodorsal
• lumbodorsal
• lumbo-dorsal
• mediodorsal
• mesodorsal, mesiodorsal
• middorsal
• nondorsal
• oculodorsal
• postdorsal
• posterodorsal
• predorsal
• prodorsal
• proximodorsal
• retrodorsal
• rostrodorsal
• sacrodorsal
• subdorsal
• superodorsal
• supradorsal
• temporodorsal
• thoracodorsal
• ventrodorsal

Related terms

• dossier
• endorse, indorse
• tabes dorsalis

Translations

relating to the side in which the backbone is located

Arabic: ظَهْرِيّ (ẓahriyy) Belarusian: спінны́ (spinný) Bulgarian: гръбен (grǎben) Catalan: dorsal Chinese: Mandarin: 背側 / 背侧 (zh) (bèicè) Czech: hřbetní (cs), dorzální (cs) Finnish: selänpuoleinen French: dorsal (fr) Galician: dorsal (gl) German: Rücken- (de), dorsal (de) Italian: dorsale (it) Malay: belakang (ms), dorsum, dorsal Polish: grzbietowy (pl), dorsalny Portuguese: dorsal (pt) Romanian: dorsal (ro) Russian: спинно́й (ru) (spinnój), дорса́льный (ru) (dorsálʹnyj) (literary, medical), хребе́тный (ru) (xrebétnyj) Slovak: chrbtový (sk) Spanish: dorsal (es) Swedish: dorsal (sv), rygg- Tagalog: panlikod, likuran Ukrainian: спинни́й (spynnýj), хребе́тний (xrebétnyj)

relating to the top surface of foot or hand

Chinese: Mandarin: 背側 / 背侧 (zh) (bèicè) Finnish: dorsaalinen (fi) Portuguese: dorsal (pt) Russian: ты́льный (ru) (týlʹnyj)

produced using the dorsum of the tongue

Armenian: միջնալեզվային (hy) (miǰnalezvayin) Azerbaijani: dilortası Finnish: dorsaalinen (fi) Galician: dorsal (gl) Georgian: უკანაენისმიერი (uḳanaenismieri), დორსალური (dorsaluri), გუტურალური (guṭuraluri) German: dorsal (de) Romanian: dorsal (ro) Russian: среднеязы́чный (ru) (srednejazýčnyj), дорса́льный (ru) (dorsálʹnyj) Swedish: dorsal (sv)

having only one sharp side

Bulgarian: едноостър (ednoostǎr) Finnish: yksiteräinen Russian: единоо́стрый (jedinoóstryj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: dorsal German: dorsal (de) Spanish: dorsal (es)

Noun

dorsal (plural dorsals)

1. (art) A hanging, usually of rich stuff, at the back of a throne, altar, etc.
2. (zootomy, in snakes) Any of the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, excluding the ventral scales.
3. (linguistics) A sound produced using the dorsum of the tongue.

References

• “dorsal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “dorsal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• lardos

Catalan

Etymology

From dors +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsals)

1. rear
2. (anatomy, linguistics) dorsal

Derived terms

• aleta dorsal

Noun

dorsal m (plural dorsals)

1. backplate (of a cuirass)
2. (zoology) shell, elytron
3. (sports) number

Noun

dorsal f (plural dorsals)

1. (meteorology) ridge

   Antonym: tàlveg

2. (geomorphology) ridge (on the ocean floor)

Derived terms

• dorsal oceànica

Further reading

• “dorsal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

dorsal

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, from Latin dorsum with adjective-forming suffix -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔʁ.sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

dorsal (feminine dorsale, masculine plural dorsaux, feminine plural dorsales)

1. dorsal

Derived terms

• épine dorsale
• nageoire dorsale

Descendants

• → Dutch: dorsaal

Further reading

• “dorsal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔʁˈzaːl/

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

dorsal (strong nominative masculine singular dorsaler, not comparable)

1. dorsal

Declension

Positive forms of dorsal (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist dorsal	sie ist dorsal	es ist dorsal	sie sind dorsal
strong declension (without article)	nominative	dorsaler	dorsale	dorsales	dorsale
	genitive	dorsalen	dorsaler	dorsalen	dorsaler
	dative	dorsalem	dorsaler	dorsalem	dorsalen
	accusative	dorsalen	dorsale	dorsales	dorsale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der dorsale	die dorsale	das dorsale	die dorsalen
	genitive	des dorsalen	der dorsalen	des dorsalen	der dorsalen
	dative	dem dorsalen	der dorsalen	dem dorsalen	den dorsalen
	accusative	den dorsalen	die dorsale	das dorsale	die dorsalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein dorsaler	eine dorsale	ein dorsales	(keine) dorsalen
	genitive	eines dorsalen	einer dorsalen	eines dorsalen	(keiner) dorsalen
	dative	einem dorsalen	einer dorsalen	einem dorsalen	(keinen) dorsalen
	accusative	einen dorsalen	eine dorsale	ein dorsales	(keine) dorsalen

Interlingua

Adjective

dorsal (not comparable)

1. dorsal

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /doʁˈsaw/ [dohˈsaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /doʁˈsaw/ [dohˈsaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /doɾˈsaw/ [doɾˈsaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /doʁˈsaw/ [doχˈsaʊ̯]
  • (Porto Alegre) IPA^(key): /doɻˈsaw/ [doɻˈsaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɔɾˈsal/ [dɔɾˈsaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɔɾˈsal/ [dɔɾˈsaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɔɾˈsa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: dor‧sal

Adjective

dorsal m or f (plural dorsais, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) dorsal (of the back)
2. (anatomy) dorsal (of the top surface of a hand or foot)

Derived terms

• dorsalmente

Noun

dorsal f (plural dorsais)

1. (geology) ridge

   Synonym: dorsal oceânica

2. (linguistics) dorsal

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dorsal.

Adjective

dorsal m or n (feminine singular dorsală, masculine plural dorsali, feminine and neuter plural dorsale)

1. dorsal

Declension

Declension of dorsal

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	dorsal		dorsală		dorsali	dorsale
	definite	dorsalul		dorsala		dorsalii	dorsalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	dorsal		dorsale		dorsali	dorsale
	definite	dorsalului		dorsalei		dorsalilor	dorsalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dorsālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doɾˈsal/ [d̪oɾˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: dor‧sal

Adjective

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsales)

1. (anatomy) dorsal

Derived terms

• aleta dorsal
• dorsalmente
• espina dorsal
• toracodorsal

Noun

dorsal m (plural dorsales)

1. ridge

Derived terms

• dorsal ancho

Related terms

• dorso

Further reading

• “dorsal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024