From Greek dendritēs 'tree-like,' from dendron 'tree,' first for branching crystals, then for nerve cell branches.
A short branched extension of a nerve cell that receives electrochemical signals from other neurons.
From Greek dendritēs 'of or pertaining to a tree,' from dendron 'tree.' Originally used in mineralogy for tree-like crystal formations. The Swiss anatomist Rudolf Albert von Kölliker applied it to nerve cell branches in the 1880s because they resembled tree limbs. Key roots: *dóru (Proto-Indo-European: "tree, wood