cranial nerve

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. any of the nerves arising from the brainstem and exiting to the periphery of the head through skull openings, including 10 pairs in fish and amphibians and 12 pairs in reptiles, birds, and mammals: in humans, these are the abducens nerve, accessory nerve, auditory nerve, facial nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, hypoglossal nerve, oculomotor nerve, olfactory nerve, optic nerve, trigeminal nerve, trochlear nerve, and vagus nerve.

---

cranial nerve British  

noun

1. any of the 12 paired nerves that have their origin in the brain and reach the periphery through natural openings in the skull

---

cranial nerve Scientific  

1. Any of the 12 pairs of nerves in humans and other mammals that connect the muscles and sensory organs of the head and upper chest directly to the brain through openings in the skull. The cranial nerves include the optic nerve and the auditory nerve.

---

Etymology

Origin of cranial nerve

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Following the surgery, Mr Coles, who was 66, was unable to swallow due to cranial nerve damage.

From BBC • Jan. 7, 2025

For those who do survive, he added, 50 percent of them are left with long-term physical or mental impairments, running the gambit from intellectual disability, seizures, paralysis and cranial nerve dysfunction.

From Salon • Aug. 29, 2024

The cochlear branch of the vestibulocochlear cranial nerve sends information on hearing.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The cranial nerve exam allows directed tests of forebrain and brain stem structures.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Vagus, vā′gus, n. the tenth cranial nerve or wandering nerve, the longest and most widely extended of the nerves of the brain:—pl.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various