vagus nerve

• vagus (ellipsis)

Partial translation of New Latin nervus vagus (“wandering nerve”).

vagus nerve (plural vagus nerves)

1. (neuroanatomy) Either of the tenth pair of cranial nerves which extend from the medulla oblongata down into the abdomen. Branches of these important nerves supply the tongue, larynx, lungs, gut, and heart.

   Synonyms: nervus vagus, pneumogastric nerve, tenth cranial nerve, wandering nerve

   Coordinate terms: olfactory nerve, optic nerve, oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, trigeminal nerve, abducens nerve, facial nerve, vestibulocochlear nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, accessory nerve, hypoglossal nerve

• pneumogastric

• “vagus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “vagus nerve”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.