plexus
noun
Simple meaning
A network of intersecting blood vessels or intersecting nerves or intersecting lymph vessels.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
plehksuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈplɛksəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
anatomy
A network of intersecting blood vessels or intersecting nerves or intersecting lymph vessels
anatomy
A network of anastomosing or interwoven nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels.
An interwoven combination of parts or elements in a structure or system.
mathematics
The system of equations required for the complete expression of the relations which exist between a set of quantities.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A network of intersecting blood vessels or intersecting nerves or intersecting lymph vessels
Used this way, plexus is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A plexus of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers.
A network of nerves formed by cervical and thoracic spinal nerves and supplying the arm and parts of the shoulder.
A plexus of nerves supplying the heart and nearby structures.
A plexus of nerves surrounding the internal carotid artery.
A large plexus of sympathetic nerves in the abdomen behind the stomach.
A nerve plexus lying beneath the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.