antidromic
|an-ti-dro-mic|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tɪˈdrɑː.mɪk/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tɪˈdrɒm.ɪk/
opposite-direction conduction
Etymology
'antidromic' originates from Greek via New/Modern Latin, specifically the Greek word 'antidromikos', where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'dromos' meant 'running, course'.
'antidromikos' passed into New/Modern Latin as 'antidromicus' used in scientific/medical contexts and eventually entered English as 'antidromic' in the 19th century.
Initially it meant 'running or moving in an opposite course', and over time it retained that basic sense but came to be used especially in technical contexts to denote opposite-direction conduction (e.g., of nerve impulses).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
directed or occurring in the opposite direction to the usual or expected course.
The researchers described an antidromic movement of the signal along the pathway.
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Adjective 2
(physiology) Relating to conduction of impulses in a direction opposite to that normally observed (e.g., from axon toward cell body rather than toward the synapse).
They evoked antidromic action potentials by stimulating the nerve distal to the cell body.
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Last updated: 2025/08/31 04:36