sulcus

English

Lateral sulcus (fissure on the surface of the brain)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sulcus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌl.kəs/

Noun

sulcus (plural sulci)

1. (anatomy) A furrow or groove in an organ or a tissue.
2. (anatomy) Any of the grooves that mark the convolutions of the surface of the brain.
   • 1999, Thomas C. Pritchard, Kevin D. Alloway, Medical Neuroscience, page 55,

     The largest sulcus, the longitudinal fissure, divides the brain into left and right hemispheres.

   • 2006, Inderbir Singh, Textbook of Human Neuroanatomy, 7th Edition, page 72,

     Unlike most other sulci, the lateral sulcus is very deep.

   • 2014, John Kiernan, Raj Rajakumar, Barr's The Human Nervous System: An Anatomical Viewpoint, 10th Edition, page 213,

     The large surface area of the human cerebral cortex results in a pattern of gyri and sulci.

3. (planetology) A region of subparallel grooves or ditches formed by a geological process.

Synonyms

• (furrow in an organ or tissue):
• (groove marking a convolution of the brain's surface): fissure
• (region of subparallel grooves or ditches formed by a geological process):

Coordinate terms

• gyrus

Derived terms

Derived terms

• calcaneal sulcus
• central sulcus
• cingulate sulcus
• coronal sulcus
• interlabial sulcus

• intermammary sulcus
• lacrimal sulcus (sulcus lacrimalis)
• lateral sulcus
• malleolar sulcus
• postcentral sulcus

• preauricular sulcus
• precentral sulcus
• radial sulcus (musculospiral groove)
• sagittal sulcus
• sigmoid sulcus

• sulcal
• sulcus ansatus
• sulcus arteriæ vertebralis
• sulcus tubae auditivae
• tympanic sulcus

Translations

anatomy: furrow or groove in an organ or a tissue

• Finnish: uurre

anatomy: groove on the surface of the brain

• Finnish: aivouurre

planetology: region of subparallel grooves or ditches

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *solk-o- (“furrow”), *selk- (“to pull, drag”), whence also Old English sulh.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsul.kus/, [ˈsʊɫ.kʊs]

Noun

sulcus m (genitive sulcī); second declension

1. furrow
2. ploughing

Inflection

Second declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	sulcus	sulcī
genitive	sulcī	sulcōrum
dative	sulcō	sulcīs
accusative	sulcum	sulcōs
ablative	sulcō	sulcīs
vocative	sulce	sulcī

Descendants

• Catalan: solc
• English: sulcus (borrowing)
• Galician: suco
• Italian: solco
• Neapolitan: surco

• Portuguese: sulco (borrowing), suco
• Sardinian: surcu
• Sicilian: surcu
• Spanish: sulco, surco

References

• sulcus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sulcus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• du Cange, Charles (1883), “sulcus”, in G. A. Louis Henschel, Pierre Carpentier, Léopold Favre, editors, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (in Latin), Niort: L. Favre
• “sulcus” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill