cortical

C3O1R1T1I1C3A1L1
UK/ˈkɔː.tɪ.kəl/US/ˈkɔɹ.tɪ.kəl/

adjective

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

OriginLatin cortex →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

adjectivecortical (not comparable)
  1. not comparableanatomyPertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain.

    An adult male skeleton from Wharram Percy showed fine-grained subperiosteal deposits of new bone on multiple skeletal elements, together with fine cortical pitting[…].

    2023, Simon Mays, “The Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Paleopathology” (chapter 2), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, page 27
  2. not comparablebiologyPertaining to the cortex of a stem or root—the tissue that lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue.

Origin

  1. Latincortex“bark”
  2. Englishcortical

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

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan cortical, cortical
  • corticalanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • corticalbotany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
Finnish kortikaalinen, kuori-
  • kortikaalinenanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • kuori-anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • kortikaalinenbotany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
Latin corticālis, corticālis
  • corticālisanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • corticālisbotany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
Norwegian Bokmål kortikal
  • kortikalanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
Polish korowy, korowy
  • korowyanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • korowybotany: pertaining to the cortex of a stem or root
Portuguese cortical
  • corticalanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
Russian корковый, кортика́льный
  • корковый (korkovyj)anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
  • кортика́льный (kortikálʹnyj)anatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure
Spanish cortical
  • corticalanatomy: pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

crotalic
Cite this entry
APA

cortical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cortical

MLA

“cortical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cortical. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cortical,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cortical.

Source: cortical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.