dorsal

English

Etymology

From Middle English dorsal, dorsale, from Medieval Latin dorsālis (“of or relating to the back”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɹsəl/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

Adjective

dorsal (comparative more dorsal, superlative most dorsal)

1. (anatomy) With respect to, or concerning the side in which the backbone is located, or the analogous side of an invertebrate.
2. (of a knife) Having only one sharp side.
3. (anatomy) Relating to the top surface of the foot or hand.
4. (linguistics, of a sound) Produced using the dorsum of the tongue.
5. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally inferior, as of a leaf.
6. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally superior, as of a creeping hepatic moss.

Antonyms

• ventral

Coordinate terms

• (human anatomy direction adjectives) anterior,‎ distal,‎ dorsal,‎ lateral,‎ medial,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ ventral ^{(Category: en:Medicine) [edit]}
• (linguistics): labial, coronal, radical, laryngeal

Derived terms

• dorsal fin
• dorsally
• dorsal root
• lumbodorsal

Related terms

• endorse, indorse

Translations

relating to the side in which the backbone is located

• Arabic: ظَهْرِيّ (ẓahriyy)
• Belarusian: спінны́ (spinný)
• Bulgarian: гръбен (grǎben)
• Catalan: dorsal
• Czech: hřbetní (cs), dorzální (cs)
• Finnish: selänpuoleinen
• French: dorsal (fr)
• Galician: dorsal (gl)
• German: Rücken- (de)
• Italian: dorsale (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: belakang, 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)
• Tagalog: panlikod, likuran
• Ukrainian: спинни́й (spynnýj), хребе́тний (xrebétnyj)

of a knife: having only one sharp side

• Bulgarian: едноостър (ednoostǎr)
• Finnish: yksiteräinen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: единоо́стрый (jedinoóstryj)

relating to the top surface of foot or hand

• Finnish: dorsaalinen (fi)
• Portuguese: dorsal (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: ты́льный (ru) (týlʹnyj)

linguistics: produced using the dorsum of the tongue

• Armenian: միջնալեզվային (hy) (miǰnalezvayin)
• Finnish: dorsaalinen (fi)
• Galician: dorsal (gl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: უკანაენისმიერი (uḳanaenismieri), დორსალური (dorsaluri), გუტურალური (guṭuraluri)
• Russian: среднеязы́чный (ru) (srednejazýčnyj), дорса́льный (ru) (dorsálʹnyj)

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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: dorsal (es)

Noun

dorsal (plural dorsals)

1. (art) A hanging, usually of rich stuff, at the back of a throne, altar, etc.

Dorsal at the Church of England parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Weston-on-the-Green, Oxfordshire.

1. In snakes, any of the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, excluding the ventral scales.
2. (linguistics) A sound produced using the dorsum of the tongue.

Anagrams

• lardos

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Catalan

Adjective

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsals)

1. dorsal

Derived terms

• aleta dorsal

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French

Etymology

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.

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔʁˈzaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

dorsal (not comparable)

1. dorsal

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Interlingua

Adjective

dorsal (not comparable)

1. dorsal

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Portuguese

Adjective

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

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Romanian

Etymology

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

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dorsālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doɾˈsal/ [d̪oɾˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsales)

1. (anatomy) dorsal

Derived terms

• aleta dorsal
• 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, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014