ˈnōd.əˌkȯrd, -ōtə-, -ȯ(ə)d noun
Etymology: not- (I) + Latin chorda cord — more at cord
: a longitudinal flexible rod of cells that acts as a specific inductor of neural plate formation, that in the lowest chordates (as amphioxus and the lampreys) and in the embryos of the higher vertebrates forms the supporting axis of the body, being almost obliterated in the adult of the higher vertebrates as the bodies of the vertebrae develop, and that arises as an outgrowth from dorsal lip of the blastopore extending forward between epiblast and hypoblast in the middorsal line
• no·to·chord·al | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷|kȯrd ə l, -ȯ(ə)d- adjective