Word
cervical
Phoneticscer·vi·cal
US/ˈsɝvəkəɫ/
UK/sˈɜːvɪkəl/
Definitions
01relating to the neck
adj. relating to the neck, especially the bones that make up the spine in your neck.
adj. pertaining to the neck or the seven vertebrae that form the upper portion of the spinal column.
“He had to wear a special collar after injuring his cervical spine in the accident.”
“The patient reported persistent numbness in her fingers, suggesting a possible compression of the nerves in the cervical region of the spine.”
Technical
Usage
Usually placed before the noun it modifies, such as 'cervical vertebrae' or 'cervical spine'.
02relating to the cervix
adj. relating to the cervix, which is the narrow lower part of the womb in a woman's body.
adj. pertaining to the cervix uteri, the neck-like opening of the uterus.
“Regular cervical screenings are important for maintaining women's health.”
“The clinical trial focused on the efficacy of the new vaccine in preventing cervical cancer among high-risk populations.”
Technical
Usage
Commonly found in medical collocations like 'cervical cancer' or 'cervical screening'.
03a neck bone
n. a short way of saying 'cervical vertebra', which is one of the bones in your neck.
n. a shortened form of 'cervical vertebra', referring to any of the seven segments of the spinal column in the neck.
“The X-ray showed a small fracture on the third cervical.”
“The surgeon carefully examined the alignment of the fifth and sixth cervicals before proceeding with the spinal fusion.”
Technical
Teaching tip
This noun use is highly specialised and mostly used by medical professionals in clinical settings.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“HPV causes most cases of cervical cancer, but counterintuitively, Semprini found that mandates don’t do that much to reduce the overall rate of cervical cancer in a population.” “We looked for non-carious cervical lesions – a name for tissue loss at the tooth neck not caused by decay.” “This is no mobile library, post office or coffee truck – but one providing far more intimate services: cervical screening.” “According to medical records, in October that year, when Helen was 15, she visited a sexual health clinic, where she was tested for HIV and prescribed a pessary for cervical thrush.” Etymology
Borrowing from French cervical, from New Latin cervīcālis, from cervīx (“the neck, nape”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, cervic- + -al.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
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Scan code
englishreference.com/q/cervical