dendrite

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dendrite /ˈdɛndrʌɪt/

▶noun

• 1 a short extension of a nerve cell conducting impulses to the cell body.

• 2 a crystalline mass with a branching, tree-like structure.

  ■ a natural tree-like marking on a rock or mineral.

– derivatives
dendritic /dɛnˈdrɪtɪk/ adjective,
dendritically adverb.

– origin C18: from Fr., from Gk dendritēs ‘tree-like’.