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
• 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.
2. 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.

Anagrams

• lardos

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Catalan

Adjective

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsals)

1. dorsal

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French

Adjective

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

1. dorsal

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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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

• toracodorsal

Noun

dorsal m (plural dorsales)

1. ridge

Related terms

• dorso

Further reading

• “dorsal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28