Moving or directed away from an axis, especially in biology referring to nerve impulses traveling away from a central nerve fiber.
From Latin 'axis' (axis) + 'fugal' from Latin 'fugere' (to flee). The term combines the concept of an axis with the direction of movement away from it, coined in 19th-century neuroscience.
This word reveals how scientists borrowed the Latin idea of 'fleeing' to describe exactly how your nerve signals travel—some impulses rush toward your spinal cord while others sprint away, and axifugal describes the escape route.
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