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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Nervous

Nĕrv'ous, a.

adjective

a. [Lat. nervosus, Fr. nerveux, It. & Pg. nervoso, Sp. nervioso, nervoso, Pr. nervios. See NERVE.]

  1. Possessing nerve; sinewy; strong; vigorous; forcible; spirited. “Nervous arms.” Pope.
  2. Hence, possessing or manifesting vigor of mind; characterized by strength in sentiment or style; as, a nervous writer.
  3. Pertaining to the nerves; seated in the nerves; as, nervous excitement; a nervous fever.
  4. Having the nerves weak or diseased; subject to, or suffering from, undue excitement of the nerves; easily agitated; weakly. “Poor, weak, and nervous creatures.” Cheney.
  5. (Bot.) The same as NERVED.

Ner'vous

system, the entire specialized apparatus in animals for receiving irritation, originating action, and transmitting both. In the vertebrates it is usually considered in two groups; the cerebro-spinal, consisting of the brain and spinal nervous cord, and mostly productive of consensual actions; and the sympathetic, or the ganglia and nerves specially related to the functions of organic life, and usually acting without consciousness.—Ner'vous temperament, a condition of body characterized by fine hair, thin skin, small muscles, quickness of motion, and a general predominance of mental manifestations. Mayne.