DORSAL

a. n.

4 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


1.
a.

Pertaining to, or situated near, the back, or dorsum, of an animal or of one of its parts; notal; tergal; neural; as, the dorsal fin of a fish; the dorsal artery of the tongue; -- opposed to ventral.

2.
a.

Pertaining to the surface naturally inferior, as of a leaf.

3.
a.

Pertaining to the surface naturally superior, as of a creeping hepatic moss. Dorsal vessel (Zoöl.), a central pulsating blood vessel along the back of insects, acting as a heart.

4.
n.

A hanging, usually of rich stuff, at the back of a throne, or of an altar, or in any similar position.


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