Meanings
- not comparableanatomyOf or relating to the waste clearance pathway for the central nervous system of vertebrates.
The glymphatic system is most active during sleep and is largely disengaged during waking hours.
2017, Amy Berger, The Alzheimer's Antidote, Chelsea Green Publishing, page 2162 more examples
Recent research has shown that sleep allows for the clearing of toxic substances from the brain. It does this through the glymphatic system, which is the brain's equivalent of the lymphatic system.
2015, Alexandra Armitage, Advanced Practice Nursing Guide to the Neurological Exam, Springer Publishing, page 205Hence, an increase of BWC^([brain water content]) can only occur though an increased flow of water from the intravascular space into the brain parenchyma by an increase in glymphatic influx or by a reduced glymphatic efflux.
2017, Nikolaus Pleslila, “4: Experimental Techniques to Investigate the Formation of Brain Edema In Vivo”, in Jérôme Badaut, Nikolaus Plesnila, editors, Brain Edema: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Practice, Elsevier (Academic Press), page 72
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Blend of glial + lymphatic; coined by Danish neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard late 2013.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish glymfaattinen, glia-lymfaattinen
- glymfaattinenof or relating to the waste clearance pathway of the central nervous system
- glia-lymfaattinenof or relating to the waste clearance pathway of the central nervous system
French glymphatique
- glymphatiqueof or relating to the waste clearance pathway of the central nervous system
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with glymphatic
Cite this entry
glymphatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glymphatic
“glymphatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glymphatic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glymphatic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glymphatic.
Source: glymphatic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.