cortical, a.
(ˈkɔːtɪkəl)
[ad. mod.L. corticāl-is, f. cortex bark: see -al1.]
1. a. Bot. Belonging to the cortex or external part of some member or organ of a plant, as the bark, the rind of a fruit, etc.; spec. belonging to or forming the cortex or outer part of the fundamental tissue. (Opposed to medullary.)
| 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. ii. §3 Of the Root..The next Part is the Cortical Body, which, when it is thin, is commonly called the Barque. Ibid. i. App. (1682) 34 Cortical Thorns are such as those of the Rasberry Bush, being not..propagated from the Lignous Body, but..wholly from the Cortical and Skin. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 331 This thallus is formed of a cortical and medullary layer. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 520 Nägeli has called this external limiting zone of the bast-layer the cortical sheath, a term corresponding to medullary sheath, used for the internal boundary of the wood. |
b. Anat. and Zool. Belonging to or forming the superficial part or investment of an animal body or organ; esp. of the brain, the kidneys, the teeth, the hair. (Opposed to medullary.)
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 302 Assigning the cortical part for generating Spirits, and the seat of Memory. 1741 Monro Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 160 The cortical Substance at the Base of the Grinders is thinner than in any other Teeth. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man. i. i. 7 The Nerves arise from the medullary, not the cortical Part. 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. ii. §87 In the Cerebrum they [the Nerve-cells] are spread-out on the surface, forming an external or cortical layer. 1881 Mivart Cat 23 The central part of the hair, or pith, is less dense than its rind, or cortical substance. |
† 2. fig. External, superficial: cf. cortex 1. Obs.
| 1685 H. More Para. Prophet. 198 The Cortical or literal sense is..most obvious. 1740 Cheyne Regimen 136 The literal and cortical Meaning and Use, may be fitted to elementary and initiating persons. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits viii. 141 The spleen will hereafter..I anticipate..be found to be cortical and caducous. |
Hence ˈcortically adv., in relation to, in or upon, the cortex or external part.
| 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 256 Cortically placed granules. |