cortex

See also: córtex

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert-

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kort-ek-sder.

Latin cortexbor.

English cortex

Borrowed from Latin cortex (“cork, bark”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹtɛks/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːtɛks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɹtɛks

Noun

cortex (countable and uncountable, plural cortexes or cortices)

1. (countable, anatomy) The outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain.
   • 2011 April 8, Amie Ninh, “Liberal vs. Conservative: Does the Difference Lie in the Brain?”, in TIME‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 July 2025:

     In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear.

2. (uncountable, botany) The tissue of a stem or root that lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue.
3. (archaeology) The outer surface of a piece of flint.

Hyponyms

(outer layer of an animalian organ or body structure):

• adrenal cortex
• allocortex
• anterior cingulate cortex
• archicortex
• cerebellar cortex
• cerebral cortex
• cingulate cortex
• cytocortex
• entorhinal cortex
• insular cortex
• isocortex
• mesocortex
• motor cortex
• neocortex
• orbitofrontal cortex
• paleocortex
• paracingulate cortex
• prefrontal cortex
• renal cortex
• somatic sensory cortex
• somatosensory cortex
• visual cortex

Coordinate terms

(botany):

• bark
• cork

Derived terms

• cerebrocortex
• cortexless
• cortical
• cortico- (and its derivatives)
• endocortex
• epicortex
• exocortex
• hemicortex
• koniocortex
• paracortex
• precortex
• proopiomelanocortic
• retinex
• striate cortex
• subcortex

Translations

outer layer of an internal organ or body structure

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bashkir: ҡабыҡ (qabıq)
• Bulgarian: ципа (bg) f (cipa)
• Catalan: còrtex (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皮质 (zh) (pízhì)

• Czech: kůra (cs) f
• Finnish: kuori (fi)
• French: cortex (fr) m
• German: Rinde (de) f, Cortex (de) m, Kortex (de) m
• Greek: φλοιός (el) (floiós)
• Hungarian: kéreg (hu)
• Ido: kortico (io)
• Irish: coirtéis f
• Khmer: សំបក (km) (sɑmbɑɑk)
• Korean: 피질(皮質) (ko) (pijil)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: tûkil (ku) f

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bark (no) m

  Nynorsk: bork (nn) m

• Polish: kora (pl) f
• Portuguese: córtex (pt) m
• Russian: кора (ru) (kora)
• Thai: เปลือก (th) (bplʉ̀ʉak)
• Welsh: breithell f (of brain), gwisg (cy) f (of other organs)

tissue of a stem or root

• Bulgarian: кора (bg) f (kora)
• French: cortex (fr) m
• Hungarian: kéreg (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: tûkil (ku)

• Latin: cortex
• Polish: kora (pl) f
• Portuguese: córtex (pt) m
• Tagalog: luknap

Further reading

• “cortex”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Noun

cortex m (uncountable)

1. cortex

Derived terms

• cortex préfrontal

Further reading

• “cortex”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *(s)kort-ek-s, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert-, extended from *(s)ker- (“to cut”).

Cognate with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), English shear, German scheren, Albanian harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”), Old Armenian քերեմ (kʻerem, “to scrape, scratch”). See also scortum (“skin, hide”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔr.tɛks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔr.teks]

Noun

cortex m or f (genitive corticis); third declension

1. the bark of a tree; the bark of a cork tree; cork
2. the shell or outward part or covering of anything else; body

   cortex periamygdaloideus ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. life preserver (made of bark)
   • nāre sine cortice

     to need no more assistance

     (literally, “to swim without life preserver”)

     (proverb)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cortex	corticēs
genitive	corticis	corticum
dative	corticī	corticibus
accusative	corticem	corticēs
ablative	cortice	corticibus
vocative	cortex	corticēs

Derived terms

• corticātus
• corticea
• corticeus
• corticōsus
• corticulus
• dēcorticō

Descendants

• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: cortiche, cortighe
• Ibero-Romance:
  • >? Mozarabic: *kórčo, *kórče
    • →? Spanish: corcho, corche

Borrowings:

• → Arabic: القُورْق (al-qūrq)
• → Catalan: còrtex
• → English: cortex
• → French: cortex
• → Irish: coirt
• → Italian: cortice
• → Portuguese: córtex, córtice
• → Spanish: córtex
• ⇒ Translingual: Corticaria

Further reading

• “cortex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cortex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "cortex", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “cortex”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “cortex”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French cortex, Latin cortex.

Noun

cortex n (plural cortexuri)

1. cortex

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	cortex	cortexul	cortexuri	cortexurile
genitive-dative	cortex	cortexului	cortexuri	cortexurilor
vocative	cortexule		cortexurilor