vertebral

See also: vertébral

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English vertebra

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālisbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English vertebral

From vertebra + -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.tɪ.bɹəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɚˈti.bɹəl/, /ˈvɝ.tə.bɹəl/
• Hyphenation: ver‧te‧bral
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tɪbɹəl, -iːbɹəl

Adjective

vertebral (not comparable)

1. (anatomy) Of or relating to a vertebra or the spine.
2. Having or made of vertebrae.
3. Having a spinal column.

Synonyms

• backboned
• spinal
• vertebrate

Antonyms

• backboneless
• invertebrate (zoology)
• nonspinal (descriptive)

Derived terms

• basivertebral
• costovertebral
• craniovertebral
• discovertebral
• extravertebral
• facioauriculovertebral
• hemivertebral
• intervertebral
• intravertebral
• ischiovertebral
• lumbovertebral
• meningovertebral
• nonvertebral
• oculoauriculovertebral
• paravertebral
• perivertebral
• postvertebral
• prevertebral
• protovertebral
• retrovertebral
• sacrovertebral
• sinuvertebral
• sternovertebral
• subvertebral
• supravertebral
• trivertebral
• vertebral arch
• vertebral artery
• vertebral canal
• vertebral column
• vertebrally

Translations

of or relating to a vertebra or the spine

• Arabic: فِقْرِيّ (fiqriyy), فِقَرِيّ (fiqariyy)
• Armenian: ողնաշարային (hy) (oġnašarayin)
• Belarusian: хрыбе́тны (xrybjétny), пазвано́чны (pazvanóčny), спінны́ (spinný)
• Bulgarian: гръбна́чен (grǎbnáčen)
• Catalan: vertebral (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 脊椎的 (zh) (jǐzhuī de)

• Czech: obratlový (cs), vertebrální
• Dutch: wervel- (nl)
• French: vertébral (fr)
• Galician: vertebral (gl)
• Georgian: ხერხემლის (xerxemlis), ხერხემლიანი (xerxemliani)
• German: vertebral (de), Wirbel- (de)
• Greek: σπονδυλικός (el) (spondylikós)
• Hungarian: gerinc-
• Irish: veirteabrach
• Italian: vertebrale (it)
• Kazakh: омыртқалық (omyrtqalyq)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بڕبڕەیی (birrbirreyî)

• Lithuanian: stuburinis (lt)
• Macedonian: ’рбетен (’rbeten), грбначен (grbnačen)
• Polish: kręgowy (pl)
• Portuguese: vertebral (pt)
• Romanian: vertebral (ro)
• Russian: позвоно́чный (ru) (pozvonóčnyj), спинно́й (ru) (spinnój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кѝчменӣ

  Latin: kìčmenī (sh)

• Slovak: stavcový (sk)
• Slovene: vretenčen
• Spanish: vertebral (es)
• Ukrainian: хребе́тний (xrebétnyj), спинни́й (spynnýj)

Noun

vertebral (plural vertebrals)

1. (zootomy) Any of the large dorsal scales along the top of a snake's back.

References

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

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bər.təˈβɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vər.təˈbɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [veɾ.teˈbɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

vertebral m or f (masculine and feminine plural vertebrals)

1. (anatomy) vertebral

Derived terms

• columna vertebral

Related terms

• vèrtebra
• vertebrat

Galician

Adjective

vertebral m or f (plural vertebrais)

1. (anatomy) vertebral

Derived terms

• columna vertebral

Related terms

• vértebra

German

Etymology

From Latin vertebra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁteˈbʁaːl/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

vertebral (no predicative form, strong nominative masculine singular vertebraler, not comparable)

1. vertebral

Declension

Positive forms of vertebral (uncomparable, no predicate)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		—	—	—	—
strong declension (without article)	nominative	vertebraler	vertebrale	vertebrales	vertebrale
	genitive	vertebralen	vertebraler	vertebralen	vertebraler
	dative	vertebralem	vertebraler	vertebralem	vertebralen
	accusative	vertebralen	vertebrale	vertebrales	vertebrale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der vertebrale	die vertebrale	das vertebrale	die vertebralen
	genitive	des vertebralen	der vertebralen	des vertebralen	der vertebralen
	dative	dem vertebralen	der vertebralen	dem vertebralen	den vertebralen
	accusative	den vertebralen	die vertebrale	das vertebrale	die vertebralen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein vertebraler	eine vertebrale	ein vertebrales	(keine) vertebralen
	genitive	eines vertebralen	einer vertebralen	eines vertebralen	(keiner) vertebralen
	dative	einem vertebralen	einer vertebralen	einem vertebralen	(keinen) vertebralen
	accusative	einen vertebralen	eine vertebrale	ein vertebrales	(keine) vertebralen

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /veʁ.teˈbɾaw/ [veh.teˈbɾaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /veʁ.teˈbɾaw/ [veh.teˈbɾaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /veɾ.teˈbɾaw/ [veɾ.teˈbɾaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /veʁ.teˈbɾaw/ [veχ.teˈbɾaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /veɻ.teˈbɾaw/ [veɻ.teˈbɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.tɨˈbɾal/ [vɨɾ.tɨˈβɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.tɨˈbɾal/ [vɨɾ.tɨˈβɾaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɨɾ.tɨˈbɾal/ [bɨɾ.tɨˈβɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.tɨˈbɾa.li/ [vɨɾ.tɨˈβɾa.li]

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: ver‧te‧bral

Adjective

vertebral m or f (plural vertebrais, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) vertebral

Derived terms

• coluna vertebral

Related terms

• vértebra

Further reading

• “vertebral”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “vertebral”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vertébral.

Adjective

vertebral m or n (feminine singular vertebrală, masculine plural vertebrali, feminine/neuter plural vertebrale)

1. vertebral

Declension

Declension of vertebral

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	vertebral		vertebrală	vertebrali	vertebrale
	definite	vertebralul		vertebrala	vertebralii	vertebralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	vertebral		vertebrale	vertebrali	vertebrale
	definite	vertebralului		vertebralei	vertebralilor	vertebralelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾteˈbɾal/ [beɾ.t̪eˈβ̞ɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ver‧te‧bral

Adjective

vertebral m or f (masculine and feminine plural vertebrales)

1. (anatomy) vertebral

Derived terms

• columna vertebral
• cuerpo vertebral

Related terms

• vértebra

Further reading

• “vertebral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025