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Glite Dictionary
cubital nerve

cubital nerve

6.7
A nerve near the elbow that gives feeling and movement to the side of the hand with the little finger
  • noun
  • /ˈkjuːbɪtəl nɜrv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : nervio cubital
  • Compression of the cubital nerve can result in numbness and weakness in the hand.

Examples

  • She felt tingling in her fingers due to the cubital nerve compression.

  • The surgeon carefully avoided the cubital nerve during the procedure to prevent nerve damage.

  • An injury to the cubital nerve near the elbow may require medical evaluation and treatment.

  • The cubital nerve is often affected by repetitive strain.

  • Compression of the cubital nerve can lead to numbness along the inner side of the arm.

  • An injury to the cubital nerve can cause pain and weakness in the medial part of the hand.

  • During surgery, the doctor took care to avoid damaging the cubital nerve near the elbow.

Synonyms

ulnar nerve
vscubital nerve
  • Specialized
1 4.8

A long thin part in the arm by the elbow that sends messages to the hand and two small fingers

has identical meaning but uses an alternate more technical label
nervus ulnaris
vscubital nerve
  • Specialized
6.3

A nerve at the inner arm near the elbow that controls movement and feeling in the ring and little fingers

is the common English term for that same anatomical structure

Surface Forms

cubital nerve singular
cubital nerves plural

Morphology

cubital + nerve

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'cubital' means 'related to the elbow' and 'nerve' is a bundle of nerve fibers, so the meaning ('a nerve related to/near the elbow') is directly derivable from its parts. This medical collocation is compositional and follows common cross-linguistic patterns for anatomical terms, making it transparent to a learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Cubital nerve comes from the Latin word 'cubitus', which means 'elbow'. The nerve runs along the inner side of the arm and passes near the 'elbow', so the name cubital points to that place and that's why it means a nerve at the 'elbow'.