plurisegmental, a.
(ˌplʊərɪsɛgˈmɛntəl)
[f. pluri- + segmental a.]
1. Physiol. That involves nerves from more than one segment of the spinal column.
| 1898 C. S. Sherrington in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CXC. 151 It follows..that the reflex centrifugal discharge of the spinal cord is pluri-segmental. 1924 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. LXIX. 649 The data indicate for the frog a plurisegmental innervation such as Agduhr..has shown to exist in cats and rabbits. 1969 J. P. Swazey Reflexes & Motor Integration v. 95 It is the pluri-segmental character of the motor nucleus, as expressed by reciprocal innervation, which gives the limb its functional solidarity. |
2. Linguistics. = suprasegmental a.
| 1964 R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics 107 The most important features that must be treated as plurisegmental..are stress, pitch, and general voice quality. 1965 Language XLI. 309 The Firthian distinction of phonematic units (with ‘unisegmental..relevance’..) and prosodies (with ‘plurisegmental relevance’) is probably more acceptable to some old-fashioned Americans than the Chomsky-Halle treatment of all features as equal. |
Hence ˌplurisegˈmentally adv.
| 1930 Jrnl. Physiol. LXX. 210 Frogs which have been kept in the tank for several months and whose muscles are much atrophied, are likely to show a very low proportion of plurisegmentally innervated fibres. 1960 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. CXV. 47/2 The neurons..occur plurisegmentally. |