Phrase guide

optic nerve

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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1

noun

Meaning 1

Each of the second pair of cranial nerves that carry visual information from the retina to the brain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the cranial nerve that serves the retina

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nervus opticus, second cranial nerve, optic tract

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cranial nerve

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: nerbio optiko — second cranial nerve
  • Basque: ikus-kirio — second cranial nerve
  • Catalan: nervi òptic — second cranial nerve
  • Chinese Mandarin: 視神經 /视神经 (shìshénjīng) — second cranial nerve
  • Czech: zrakový nerv — second cranial nerve
  • Finnish: näköhermo — second cranial nerve
  • Finnish: toinen aivohermo — second cranial nerve
  • French: nerf optique — second cranial nerve
  • Galician: nervio óptico — second cranial nerve
  • German: Sehnerv — second cranial nerve
  • Hungarian: látóideg — second cranial nerve
  • Icelandic: sjóntaug — second cranial nerve
  • Italian: nervo ottico — second cranial nerve
  • Japanese: 視神経 (shishinkei) — second cranial nerve
  • Korean: 시각신경 (sigaksin'gyeong) — second cranial nerve
  • Northern Kurdish: demara bînînê — second cranial nerve
  • Latvian: redzes nervs — second cranial nerve
  • Māori: io whatu — second cranial nerve
  • Polish: nerw wzrokowy — second cranial nerve
  • Portuguese: nervo óptico — second cranial nerve
  • Portuguese: nervo ótico — second cranial nerve
  • Russian: зри́тельный нерв (zrítelʹnyj nerv) — second cranial nerve
  • Spanish: nervio óptico — second cranial nerve
  • Swedish: synnerv — second cranial nerve
  • Telugu: దృష్టినాడి (dr̥ṣṭināḍi) — second cranial nerve
  • Ukrainian: зорови́й нерв (zorovýj nerv) — second cranial nerve
  • Welsh: nerf y llygad — second cranial nerve
  • Welsh: nerf olygol — second cranial nerve