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Glite Dictionary
sciatic nerve

sciatic nerve

3 4.4
A large thick cord that sends messages from the lower back down the back of each leg
  • noun
  • /saɪˈætɪk nɜrv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : nervio ciático
  • Crossing your legs can put more pressure on your sciatic nerve, intensifying your pain.
  • innervated by the sciatic nerve
  • transection within the sciatic nerve
  • sciatic nerve adhesions

I have a little bit, I have some pain on the left side, like sciatic nerve pain and a little bit of numbness on the top of my left foot.

Examples

  • For two years, I had been suffering from a severe pain... ...the result of a sciatic nerve problem.

    The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

  • I have a little bit, I have some pain on the left side, like sciatic nerve pain and a little bit of numbness on the top of my left foot.

    Rich Roll

  • I'm having a problem with my sciatic nerve.

    Heavyweights (1995)

  • And then when the season started, man, he had a sciatic nerve issue that was in his like running down his back and he could not play.

  • Crossing your legs can put more pressure on the sciatic nerve, intensifying this condition.

    Blog text (13)

  • I can barely walk because the swelling and pressure permanently damaged the sciatic nerve.

    Blog text (24)

  • The sciatic nerve and its branches provide deeper sensation and muscular innervation of the ankle and foot.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Colin had squirmed for a position of comfort and wound up pinching a sciatic nerve in his right hamstring, which now made him very sensitive to someone touching him back there.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Intense pain radiating from my lower back down the leg is often a sign that the sciatic nerve is affected.

  • I felt a sharp pain along my sciatic nerve after sitting for too long.

Synonyms

nervus ischiadicus
vssciatic nerve
  • Specialized
8.2

A large nerve that runs from the lower back down the back of the thigh to the lower leg

is the common English name used for the same nerve

Surface Forms

sciatic nerve singular
sciatic nerves plural

Morphology

sciatic + nerve

The phrase is compositionally built from 'sciatic' (specifying the type/location) + 'nerve', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a particular nerve related to sciatica or leg/hip pain. However, 'sciatic' is a specialized medical adjective and does not by itself make the full anatomical extent (largest nerve running from lower back down the leg) immediately obvious to a B1 learner, so some domain knowledge is required.

Etymology

Sciatic nerve comes from an old Greek word for 'hip' and the word nerve names a cord that carries feeling and movement. This very large nerve runs from the lower back through the hip and down the back of the leg, so the name helps you picture where it goes.