cortex

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum
noun the tissue forming the outer layer of an organ or structure in plant or animal
noun the tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus

Borrowed from Latin cortex (“cork, bark”).

When viewed from the basilar aspect the disruption of the right cortex is again obvious. — Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, United States. Warren Commission
His mind exploded as the nerve endings from the remains of his arms and legs shot liquid fire into his cerebral cortex. — Terminal Compromise, Winn Schwartau
Our outside and often thin and fanciful clothes are our epidermis, or false skin, which partakes not of our life, and may be stripped off here and there without fatal injury; our thicker garments, constantly worn, are our cellular integument, or cortex; but our shirts are our liber or true bark, which cannot be removed without girdling and so destroying the man. — Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau

cerebral cortex, cerebral mantle, pallium

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