nociceptor
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sensory receptor that sends signals that cause the perception of pain in response to a potentially damaging stimulus.
Example Sentences
- "He divides receptors into three classes— "nociceptors", such as the nerve-endings for pain and hunger, "beneceptors", such as the nerve-endings stimulated when sugar melts on the tongue, and "neutroceptors", such as the nerve-endings in the eye and ear, called " neutroceptors" because they receive more or less indiscriminately both pleasant and unpleasant messages."
- "The “beneceptors,” “nociceptors,” and "neutroceptors” generally signalled stimuli that were, respectively, beneficial, harmful, or neutral as regards the organism or its species."
Etymology
Coined by English neurophysiologist Charles Sherrington in 1906, originally in the spelling noci-ceptor, from noceō + clipped form of receptor, signifying pain detection.