chorda

[NL., fr. L. chorda. See Chord.]
(Anat.) A cord.

||Chorda dorsalis . [NL., lit., cord of the back.]
(Anat.) See Notochord.

1. A tendon.
2. A tendinous or cordlike structure.

Pl. chordae [L.] a cord or sinew.

• c. magna — Achilles tendon.
• c. tendineae — tendinous cords connecting the two atrioventricular valves to the appropriate papillary muscles in the heart ventricles.

  Ruptured chorda tendineae in a horse heart at necropsy. By permission from Knottenbelt DC, Pascoe RR, Diseases and Disorders of the Horse, Saunders, 2003

• c. tendineae rupture — causes acute, massive, cardiac insufficiency leading to congestive heart failure and an early death; called also detachment.
• c. tympani — a nerve originating from the facial nerve, distributed to the submandibular, sublingual and lingual glands and the anterior two-thirds of the tongue; it is a parasympathetic and special sensory nerve.
• c. umbilicalis — umbilical cord.
• c. vocalis — vocal cord.