noun
also op·tic ˈäptik, -tēk
( -s )
Etymology: optic nerve translation of Middle French nerf optique, translation of Medieval Latin nervus opticus; optic from optic (I)
: either of the second pair of cranial nerves being a sensory nerve, arising from the ventral part of the diencephalon, forming in higher vertebrates an optic chiasma before passing to the eye and spreading over the anterior surface of the retina, and serving to conduct visual stimuli from the retina to the brain ; sometimes : the portion of this nerve lying between the retina and the optic chiasma — see eye illustration; optic tract