nerve

English Online Dictionary. What means nerve‎? What does nerve mean?

English

Etymology

Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /nɝv/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nɜːv/
• (New York City) IPA^(key): /nɜɪv/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /nɛɾv/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v

Noun

nerve (plural nerves)

2. A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.

   Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:nerve
4. (nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron.
6. (botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.

8. Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.

   Synonyms: brashness, brazenness, balls; see also Thesaurus:courage
10. Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.
12. (in the plural) One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche.

14. (in the plural) Mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions.

15. (polymer technology) The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.
    • 1959, Newell A Perry, Eric O Ridgway, US patent US2870103 A[3]

      The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down.

17. (obsolete) Sinew, tendon.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

nerve (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved)

1. (transitive) To give courage.
2. (transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used with “up”.

Synonyms

• (give strength): See also Thesaurus:strengthen

Translations

Anagrams

• Verne, erven, never

Dutch

Noun

nerve f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)

1. Obsolete form of nerf.

Anagrams

• erven, reven, veren

French

Pronunciation

Verb

nerve

1. inflection of nerver:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

German

Pronunciation

Verb

nerve

1. inflection of nerven:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Latin

Noun

nerve

1. vocative singular of nervus

Middle English

Alternative forms

• nerf, nerfe, nerff, nerffe

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nervus, from Proto-Italic *snēuros, from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥; thus a doublet of synwe.

Forms with /f/ reflect either final devoicing or Middle French nerf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɛrv(ə)/, /nɛrf/

Noun

nerve (plural nerves)

1. A nerve (bundle of neurons)
2. A tendon or sinew (band of collagen).
3. (botany, rare) Plant fibre.

Related terms

• nervous

Descendants

• English: nerve
• Scots: nerve

References

• “nerve, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron), and Latin nervus.

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nerver, definite plural nervene)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

“nerve” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron), and Latin nervus.

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nervar, definite plural nervane)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

• “nerve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.