dorsi-, (dors-)
combining form of L. dors-um back (chiefly in anatomical, zoological, and botanical terms) = ‘back-; of, to, on the back’. (Sometimes less properly in the sense ‘back and ―’, which is correctly expressed by dorso-.) Used in modern formations, as dorsiˈbranchiate a., having gills on the back; belonging to the order Dorsibranchiata of Annelids in Cuvier's system; n. a dorsibranchiate annelid. dorsiˈcornu, the posterior grey column or horn of the spinal cord; hence dorsi-ˈcornual a. dorsiˈcumbent a., lying on the back, supine. ˈdorsiduct v. trans., to bring or carry towards the back. ˈdorsifixed a., ‘fastened by the back; in Botany, used to describe an anther which is attached by its back to the filament; otherwise called adnate’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). ˈdorsiflex v. trans., to bend (a part of the body, esp. the foot or toe) towards its dorsal surface. dorsiˈflexion, (a) (nonce-wd.) a bending of the back, a bow; (b) Anat., flexion or bending towards the dorsum or dorsal surface. ˈdorsigrade a. [after digitigrade, plantigrade], walking upon the backs of the toes, as certain armadillos (Syd. Soc. Lex). dorsi-ˈmedian a., situated in the middle line of the back. dorsiˈmesal, dorsoˈmesal a. [see next] = prec. dorsiˈmeson [Gr. µέσον middle], the middle line of the back (Wilder & Gage). dorsiˈspinal a., pertaining to the spinous processes of the vertebræ. dorsi-ˈventral a., -venˈtrality = dorso-ventral, -ventrality.
| 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 411/1 The *Dorsibranchiate Annelida. 1862 Dana Man. Geol., Worms 155 Dorsi⁓branchiates, or free sea worms. |
| 1890 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 528 The myelic cornua are strictly dorsal and ventral,..permitting the adjectives *dorsicornual and ventricornual. |
| 1883 Wilder & Gage Anat. Tech. 84 *Dorsiduct the tail of the cat. |
| 1908 Practitioner Oct. 561 The ankles can be *dorsiflexed, until the dorsum of the feet touches the shin. |
| 1823 Carlyle in Froude Life I. 192 With the most profound *dorsiflexions. 1902 D. J. Cunningham Text-bk. Anat. 251 If posterior or dorsal surfaces be approximated by the process of bending, then the flexion becomes posterior or dorsi-flexion, as at the knee- or wrist-joints. 1967 G. M. Wyburn et al. Conc. Anat. vi. 186 Dorsiflexion of the foot is limited by the wedge-shaped trochlear surface of the talus. |
| 1842 E. Wilson Anat. Vade M. 351 The *Dorsi-spinal veins form a plexus around the spinous..processes and arches of the vertebræ. |
| 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. App. ii. 954 Sachs points out..that most monosymmetrical..organs present..dorsal and ventral halves which are of different internal structure; such organs he describes by the term *dorsi⁓ventral. 1959 Southwood & Leston Land & Water Bugs 51 All Amyoteinae have an abdomen capable of great volumetric increase, accomplished by *dorsi-ventral expansion. |
| 1895 F. W. Oliver tr. Kerner's Nat. Hist. Plants II. 697 The oophyte is a lobed band-like thallus with marked *dorsi-ventrality. |