ganglion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a cluster of nerve-cell bodies, usually outside the brain and spinal cord, that acts as a relay point for nerve signals

   The surgeon traced the sensory nerve back to a small ganglion.

2. 2
   noun

   a noncancerous fluid-filled cyst arising near a joint or tendon sheath

   A small ganglion formed on the back of his wrist.

Via Latin from Greek ganglion 'a swelling or cyst on a tendon'. The term was later applied to clusters of nerve-cell bodies because they often appear as swellings along nerves; the older swelling sense survives in ganglion cyst.

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