plexus

See also: Plexus

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pel-

Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-der.

Proto-Italic *plektōder.

Latin plectō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin plexusbor.

English plexus

Borrowed from Latin plexus (“a twining, plaiting, braid”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɛk.səs/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛksəs

Noun

plexus (plural plexuses or plexus or plexi)

1. (anatomy) A network of anastomosing or interwoven nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels.

   Hyponyms: brachial plexus, cardiac plexus, celiac plexus, choroid plexus, Exner's plexus, internal carotid plexus, pelvic plexus, solar plexus, venous plexus

2. An interwoven combination of parts or elements in a structure or system.
   • 1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC:

     Sensitive reader, start not at the apparition! Oxford is a plexus of anomalies. These two youths were (odd as it may seem to you) subject to the same Statutes, affiliated to the same College, reading for the same School; aye! and though the one had inherited half a score of noble and castellated roofs, whose mere repairs cost him annually thousands and thousands of pounds, and the other’s people had but one little mean square of lead, from which the fireworks of the Crystal Palace were clearly visible every Thursday evening, in Oxford one roof sheltered both of them. Furthermore, there was even some measure of intimacy between them. It was the Duke’s whim to condescend further in the direction of Noaks than in any other. He saw in Noaks his own foil and antithesis, and made a point of walking up the High with him at least once in every term. Noaks, for his part, regarded the Duke with feelings mingled of idolatry and disapproval.

   • 1934, Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer, Grove Press, published 1961:

     I have the sensation of being immersed in the very plexus of life, focal from whatever place, position or attitude I take my stance.

3. (mathematics) The system of equations required for the complete expression of the relations which exist between a set of quantities.
   • 1866, Brande & C, A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art‎^[1], page 935:

     Plexus (Lat.). The system of equations required for the complete expression of the relations which exist between a set of quantities.

Synonyms

• rete

Derived terms

• abdominal nerve plexus
• Batson venous plexus
• carotid plexus
• cervical plexus
• coeliac plexus
• extraplexus
• intraplexus
• pancreatic plexus
• pharyngeal plexus
• phrenic plexus
• plectic
• plexiform
• plexo-
• plexotomy
• plexus celiacus
• Santorini's plexus
• splenic plexus
• subplexus
• tympanic plexus

Translations

anatomic network

• Arabic: ضَفِيرَة (ḍafīra)
• Bulgarian: сплетение n (spletenie), сплит m (split)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 叢 / 丛 (zh) (cóng)

• Czech: pleteň f
• Dutch: plexus (nl) m
• Finnish: punos (fi)
• French: plexus (fr) m, plexe (fr) m
• German: Plexus m
• Hungarian: fonat (hu)
• Polish: splot (pl) m
• Russian: сплете́ние (ru) n (spleténije), переплете́ние (ru) n (perepleténije)
• Spanish: plexo (es) m

References

• “plexus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “plexus”, in Merriam-Webster Online, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1996–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “plexus”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• suplex

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

plexus m (plural plexussen, no diminutive)

1. plexus

French

Alternative forms

• plexe (dated)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin plexus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plɛk.sys/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

plexus m (uncountable)

1. (anatomy) plexus

Further reading

• “plexus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpɫɛk.sʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈplɛk.sus]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of plectō (“to plait, braid, interweave”).

Participle

plexus (feminine plexa, neuter plexum); first/second-declension participle

1. perfect passive participle of plectō
2. (pre-classical) involved, intricate, entangled, ambiguous

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	plexus	plexa	plexum		plexī	plexae	plexa
genitive	plexī	plexae	plexī		plexōrum	plexārum	plexōrum
dative	plexō	plexae	plexō		plexīs
accusative	plexum	plexam	plexum		plexōs	plexās	plexa
ablative	plexō	plexā	plexō		plexīs
vocative	plexe	plexa	plexum		plexī	plexae	plexa

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pel-

Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-der.

Proto-Italic *plektōder.

Latin plectō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin plexus

From plectō (“to plait, braid, interweave”) + -tus (action noun suffix).

Noun

plexus m (genitive plexūs); fourth declension

1. (poetic) a twining, plaiting, braid

Inflection

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	plexus	plexūs
genitive	plexūs	plexuum
dative	plexuī	plexibus
accusative	plexum	plexūs
ablative	plexū	plexibus
vocative	plexus	plexūs

Descendants

Descendants

• → English: plexus
• → French: plexe, (unadapted) plexus
• → German: Plexus
• → Italian: plesso
• → Spanish: plexo
• → Translingual: Plexa

References

• “plexus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “plexus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.