Electrooculogram

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A recording of the electrical potential differences generated by the movement and position of the eyes, used in medical diagnosis and research
2. A test that measures and records the electrical signals produced by eye movements to detect vision problems and neurological conditions
3. A graph or tracing showing the electrical activity generated by the eyes as they move, employed to evaluate ocular and neural function

Etymology: An electrooculogram is a recording of the eye's resting electrical potential, and its name is a plain compound built from three parts: "electro-", a combining form from "electricity", "oculo-", from Latin "oculus" meaning "eye", and "-gram", from Greek "gramma" meaning "something written" or "drawing." Put together, the name describes a drawing made by electricity from the eye, which is exactly what the technique produces: a graph of voltage changes as the eye moves. The "electro-" element traces back through the Greek "elektron", meaning amber, whose rubbing produced static charge and gave electricity its name. The "-gram" ending, in the same way, appears in words like "telegram" and "diagram," so the pattern of a recorded trace is built into the word's last syllable. Each part was joined in modern scientific usage, as is typical of technical coinages from classical roots.

Synonyms: EOG