dendrite

UK: /ˈdɛndraɪt/ US: /ˈdɛndraɪt/ ,(den′drīt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

den•drite /ˈdɛndraɪt/   n. [countable]

1. Anatomy a branching part of a nerve cell that carries impulses toward the cell body.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

den•drite  (den′drīt), n. 

1. Rocks [Petrol., Mineral.]
   • a branching figure or marking, resembling moss or a shrub or tree in form, found on or in certain stones or minerals due to the presence of a foreign material.
   • any arborescent crystalline growth.
2. Anatomy the branching process of a neuron that conducts impulses toward the cell. See diag. under neuron. 

• Greek dendrí̄tēs pertaining to a tree, equivalent. to dendr- dendr- + -ītēs -ite¹
• 1720–30

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dendrite / ˈdɛndraɪt/ noun

1. Also called: dendron any of the short branched threadlike extensions of a nerve cell, which conduct impulses towards the cell body
2. a branching mosslike crystalline structure in some rocks and minerals
3. a crystal that has branched during growth and has a treelike form

Etymology: 18th Century: from Greek dendritēs relating to a tree

dendritic / dɛnˈdrɪtɪk/, denˈdritical adjective