noun · verb · 19 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.
Australian, Received-Pronunciation:/nɜːv/
British, Southern, Standard:/nəːv/
General-American:/nɝv/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
New-York-City:/nɜɪv/
New-Zealand, Wales:/nøːv/
Scotland:/nɛɾv/
/neːv/Liverpool, fair–fur merger
/nɛːv/Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)v
CMU ARPABET:N ER1 V
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The nerves can be seen through the skin.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A neuron.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, nonstandard
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
Examples
Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: steel
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: brace, poise
History
Etymology
Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb sense 4 (“to get on (someone’s) nerves”) is chiefly a semantic loan from German nerven.
Across languages
Translations
223 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Arabic:
عَصَب
(ʕaṣab)
— bundle of neurons
Arabic:
عصب
(ʕaṣab)
— bundle of neurons
Armenian:
նյարդ
(nyard)
— bundle of neurons
Armenian:
ջիղ
(ǰiġ)
— bundle of neurons
Assamese:
স্নায়ু
(snayu)
— bundle of neurons
Asturian:
nerviu
— bundle of neurons
Azerbaijani:
سڭیر
(siŋīr)
— bundle of neurons
Azerbaijani:
sinir
— bundle of neurons
Azerbaijani:
əsəb
— bundle of neurons
Basque:
nerbio
— bundle of neurons
Basque:
zain
— bundle of neurons
Belarusian:
нерв
(njerv)
— bundle of neurons
Belarusian:
нэрв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Belarusian:
нэ́рва
(nérva)
— bundle of neurons
Bengali:
স্নায়ু
(snaẏu)
— bundle of neurons
Bulgarian:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Burmese:
အာရုံကြော
(arumkrau:)
— bundle of neurons
Catalan:
nervi
— bundle of neurons
Chinese Mandarin:
神經 /神经
(shénjīng)
— bundle of neurons
Czech:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Czech:
čiv
— bundle of neurons
Danish:
nerve
— bundle of neurons
Dutch:
zenuw
— bundle of neurons
Dutch:
neuronenbundel
— bundle of neurons
Elfdalian:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Esperanto:
nervo
— bundle of neurons
Estonian:
närv
— bundle of neurons
Faroese:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Faroese:
nerva
— bundle of neurons
Finnish:
hermo
— bundle of neurons
French:
nerf
— bundle of neurons
Old French:
nerf
— bundle of neurons
Galician:
nervio
— bundle of neurons
Georgian:
ნერვი
(nervi)
— bundle of neurons
German:
Nerv
— bundle of neurons
Greek:
νεύρο
(névro)
— bundle of neurons
Ancient Greek:
νεῦρον
(neûron)
— bundle of neurons
Greenlandic:
sianiut
— bundle of neurons
Gujarati:
ચેતાતંતુ
(cetātantu)
— bundle of neurons
Gujarati:
જ્ઞાનતંતુ
(jñāntantu)
— bundle of neurons
Haitian Creole:
nè
— bundle of neurons
Hebrew:
עָצָב
('atzáv)
— bundle of neurons
Hindi:
नस
(nas)
— bundle of neurons
Hindi:
तंत्रिका
(tantrikā)
— bundle of neurons
Hungarian:
ideg
— bundle of neurons
Icelandic:
taug
— bundle of neurons
Indonesian:
saraf
— bundle of neurons
Ingrian:
nerva
— bundle of neurons
Irish:
néaróg
— bundle of neurons
Italian:
nervo
— bundle of neurons
Japanese:
神経
(shinkei)
— bundle of neurons
Javanese:
urat
— bundle of neurons
Kazakh:
жүйке
(jüike)
— bundle of neurons
Khmer:
ប្រសាទ
(prɑɑsaat)
— bundle of neurons
Khmer:
សរសៃ
(sɑɑ say)
— bundle of neurons
Korean:
신경
(sin'gyeong)
— bundle of neurons
Central Kurdish:
پەی
(pey)
— bundle of neurons
Northern Kurdish:
demar
— bundle of neurons
Kyrgyz:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Lao:
ເສັ້ນປະສາດ
(sen pa sāt)
— bundle of neurons
Lao:
ປະສາດ
(pa sāt)
— bundle of neurons
Latin:
nervus
— bundle of neurons
Latvian:
nervs
— bundle of neurons
Lithuanian:
nervas
— bundle of neurons
Low German:
Nerv
— bundle of neurons
Luxembourgish:
Nerv
— bundle of neurons
Macedonian:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Malay:
saraf
— bundle of neurons
Maltese:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Māori:
io
— bundle of neurons
Māori:
akaaka
— bundle of neurons
Middle English:
nerve
— bundle of neurons
Mongolian:
мэдрэл
(medrel)
— bundle of neurons
Mongolian:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Navajo:
atsʼoos
— bundle of neurons
Norwegian Bokmål:
nerve
— bundle of neurons
Norwegian Nynorsk:
nerve
— bundle of neurons
Old English:
wealdweaxa
— bundle of neurons
Pashto:
عَصَب
('asab)
— bundle of neurons
Persian:
عَصَب
('asab)
— bundle of neurons
Piedmontese:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Plautdietsch:
Narf
— bundle of neurons
Polish:
nerw
— bundle of neurons
Portuguese:
nervo
— bundle of neurons
Romanian:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Romansh:
gnerv
— bundle of neurons
Russian:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Northern Sami:
nearva
— bundle of neurons
Sanskrit:
नाडी
(nāḍī)
— bundle of neurons
Sanskrit:
स्नायु
(snāyu)
— bundle of neurons
Santali:
ᱥᱤᱨ
(sir)
— bundle of neurons
Serbo-Croatian:
жѝвац
— bundle of neurons
Serbo-Croatian:
не̏рв
— bundle of neurons
Serbo-Croatian:
žìvac
— bundle of neurons
Serbo-Croatian:
nȅrv
— bundle of neurons
Slovak:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Slovene:
živec
— bundle of neurons
Upper Sorbian:
nerw
— bundle of neurons
Spanish:
nervio
— bundle of neurons
Swahili:
neva
— bundle of neurons
Swedish:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Tagalog:
dagandam
— bundle of neurons
Tagalog:
nerbiyos
— bundle of neurons
Tagalog:
nerbyos
— bundle of neurons
Tajik:
асаб
(asab)
— bundle of neurons
Tamil:
நரம்பு
(narampu)
— bundle of neurons
Tatar:
сеңер
(señer)
— bundle of neurons
Telugu:
నరము
(naramu)
— bundle of neurons
Thai:
เส้นประสาท
(sên-bprà-sàat)
— bundle of neurons
Thai:
ประสาท
(bprà-sàat)
— bundle of neurons
Turkish:
sinir
— bundle of neurons
Ottoman Turkish:
سڭیر
(siñir)
— bundle of neurons
Ottoman Turkish:
عصب
(ʿasab)
— bundle of neurons
Turkmen:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Ukrainian:
нерв
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Urdu:
عَصَب
('asab)
— bundle of neurons
Uyghur:
نېرۋا
(nërwa)
— bundle of neurons
Uzbek:
asab
— bundle of neurons
Uzbek:
nerv
— bundle of neurons
Vietnamese:
thần kinh
— bundle of neurons
Volapük:
nev
— bundle of neurons
Welsh:
nerf
— bundle of neurons
Yiddish:
נערוו
(nerv)
— bundle of neurons
Catalan:
nervi
— colloquial: neuron
Dutch:
zenuw
— colloquial: neuron
Dutch:
zenuwknoop
— colloquial: neuron
Dutch:
neuron
— colloquial: neuron
Finnish:
hermo
— colloquial: neuron
German:
Nerv
— colloquial: neuron
Russian:
нерв
(nerv)
— colloquial: neuron
Swedish:
nerv
— colloquial: neuron
Bulgarian:
жи́лка
(žílka)
— botany: vein; grain in wood
