Phrase guide

autonomic nervous system

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

In humans and other vertebrates, the part of the nervous system that regulates the involuntary activity of the heart, intestines and glands. These activities include digestion, respiration, perspiration, metabolism, and the modulation of blood pressure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, medicine, neuroanatomy, neurology, neuroscience, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vegetative nervous system, visceral nervous system

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the part of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls involuntary actions of the smooth muscles and heart and glands

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ANS

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: neural structure

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: sistema nerviós autònom — autonomic nervous system
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自主神經系統 /自主神经系统 (zìzhǔ shénjīng xìtǒng) — autonomic nervous system
  • Czech: vegetativní nervová soustava — autonomic nervous system
  • Esperanto: aŭtonoma nerva sistemo — autonomic nervous system
  • Finnish: autonominen hermosto — autonomic nervous system
  • German: vegetatives Nervensystem — autonomic nervous system
  • Greek: αυτόνομο νευρικό σύστημα (aftónomo nevrikó sýstima) — autonomic nervous system
  • Hungarian: autonóm idegrendszer — autonomic nervous system
  • Icelandic: sjálfvirka taugakerfi — autonomic nervous system
  • Italian: sistema nervoso autonomo — autonomic nervous system
  • Japanese: 自律神経系 (jiritsu shinkeikei) — autonomic nervous system
  • Northern Kurdish: demarekoendama xweyî — autonomic nervous system
  • Polish: autonomiczny układ nerwowy — autonomic nervous system
  • Polish: wegetatywny układ nerwowy — autonomic nervous system
  • Portuguese: sistema nervoso autônomo — autonomic nervous system
  • Portuguese: sistema nervoso autónomo — autonomic nervous system
  • Romanian: sistem nervos vegetativ — autonomic nervous system
  • Romanian: sistem nervos autonom — autonomic nervous system
  • Spanish: sistema nervioso autónomo — autonomic nervous system
  • Swedish: autonoma nervsystemet — autonomic nervous system
  • Turkish: otonom sinir sistemi — autonomic nervous system