Anatomy
nephron Audio
neph·ron [ nef-ron ]
Subclass of:
Kidney
Etymology:
Greek nephros = kidney
An old term whose meaning has of late been more limited to a functioning unit of the kidney.
Definitions related to nephrons:
  • The basic structural and functioning unit of the kidney. It is composed of the glomerulus, where waste products are filtered from the blood, the proximal and distal tubules, the loop of Henle, and the collecting ducts, where urine is produced for excretion from the body.
    NCI Thesaurus
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • The functional units of the kidney, consisting of the glomerulus and the attached tubule.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • Nephron, functional unit of the kidney, the structure that actually produces urine in the process of removing waste and excess substances from the blood. There are about 1,000,000 nephrons in each human kidney. The most primitive nephrons are found in the kidneys (pronephros) of primitive fish...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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