arachnoid

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Top
(ə-răk'noid') pronunciation
adj.
  1. Anatomy. Of or relating to a delicate membrane enclosing the spinal cord and brain.
  2. Of, relating to, or resembling arachnids.
  3. Covered with or consisting of thin, soft, entangled hairs or fibers resembling those of a cobweb or spider's web.
n.
  1. See arachnid.
  2. Anatomy. A delicate membrane that encloses the spinal cord and brain and lies between the pia mater and dura mater.

[New Latin arachnoīdēs, from Greek arakhnoeidēs, cobweblike : arakhnē, spider + -oeidēs, -oid.]


(ə-răk'noid')
adj.

Resembling a cobweb. Used of the arachnoid membrane covering the brain and spinal cord.

1. resembling a spider's web.
2. the delicate membrane interposed between the dura mater and the pia mater, and with them constituting the meninges. Called also arachnoidea.

  • cerebral a., arachnoidea cerebri — the arachnoid investing the brain.
  • a. cyst — cysts of the pia and arachnoid containing cerebrospinal fluid; may cause gradually increasing pressure on nervous tissue, especially spinal cord, causing ataxia, paresis.
  • a. fibroblastoma — see meningioma.
  • a. granulations — villous enlargements of the arachnoid that protrude into dural sinuses or diploic veins and serve to drain cerebrospinal fluid. They are conspicuous in the dorsal sagittal sinus of the horse.
  • a. membrane — arachnoid; middle layer of the meninges.
  • spinal a. — the arachnoid investing the spinal cord.

Arachnoid may refer to:

See also


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights: