What does "ephaptic" mean?

Of or relating to a form of communication within the nervous system involving the coupling of adjacent (touching) nerve fibers caused by the exchange of ions between the cells, or as a result of local electrical fields, but distinct from direct communication systems such as synapses.

Ephaptic

//ɛfˈæp.tɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of or relating to a form of communication within the nervous system involving the coupling of adjacent (touching) nerve fibers caused by the exchange of ions between the cells, or as a result of local electrical fields, but distinct from direct communication systems such as synapses. not-comparable

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔφ- (éph-) + αψις (apsis)

Related phrases

nerve fiber nervous system

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.