antidromal
|an-ti-dro-mal|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tɪˈdroʊ.məl/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tɪˈdrɒm.əl/
moving in the opposite direction
Etymology
'antidromal' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'antidromos', where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'dromos' meant 'running' or 'course'.
'antidromos' was used in classical Greek; it was adopted into scientific/medical Latin and later entered modern English (chiefly in 19th and 20th century physiological literature) as 'antidromal'.
Initially it meant 'running or moving against' in a general sense; over time it gained the specialized physiological sense of 'conducted toward the origin (of a nerve impulse)', while retaining the general 'opposite-direction' meaning in technical contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
directed or moving in the opposite direction from the normal or usual course.
The tracer revealed antidromal flow in the vessel, indicating a reversal of the usual current.
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Adjective 2
(physiology) Of nerve impulses: conducted toward the origin of the impulse (i.e., opposite to the normal, orthodromic, direction).
During the experiment, the scientists recorded antidromal spikes traveling back toward the cell body.
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Last updated: 2025/08/31 04:10