Standard Lemma guide

cortical

adj · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈkɔː.tɪ.kəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈkɔɹ.tɪ.kəl/
  • CMU ARPABET: K AO1 R T AH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root—the tissue that lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

of or relating to a cortex

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin cortex (“bark”), stem cortic-, + -al.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cortical — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Finnish: kortikaalinen — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Finnish: kuori- — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Latin: corticālis — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kortikal — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Polish: korowy — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Portuguese: cortical — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Russian: корковый (korkovyj) — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Russian: кортика́льный (kortikálʹnyj) — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Spanish: cortical — anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • Catalan: cortical — botany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
  • Finnish: kortikaalinen — botany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
  • Latin: corticālis — botany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
  • Polish: korowy — botany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root