Meaning & use
ipsilateral
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Located on, or affecting, the same side of the body.
Grammar: Often used before a noun: ipsilateral limb, ipsilateral pain.
Patterns
- ipsilateral to something
- ipsilateral side
The pain appeared in the ipsilateral shoulder.
Doctors compared the ipsilateral arm with the healthy one.
The signals travel to the ipsilateral side of the spinal cord.
Common combinations
- ipsilateral side
- Swelling occurred on the ipsilateral side of the injury.
- ipsilateral limb
- The ipsilateral limb was weaker after the stroke.
- ipsilateral to the lesion
- The weakness was ipsilateral to the lesion.
- ipsilateral and contralateral
- The study compared ipsilateral and contralateral responses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- same-sided
- Same-sided is a plain non-technical way of saying it, but it is rarely used in medical writing.
- unilateral
- Unilateral means affecting one side only, while ipsilateral compares two things on the same side.
Opposites
Word family
- ipsilaterally adverb
- on the same side
- contralateral adjective
- on the opposite side of the body
- bilateral adjective
- affecting both sides
- lateral adjective
- relating to the side
Commonly confused: ipsilateral or contralateral? ipsilateral or bilateral?
ipsilateral vs contralateral
Contralateral is its direct opposite, meaning on the opposite side.
ipsilateral vs bilateral
Bilateral means involving both sides, not just the same side.
Practice
A stroke in the left hemisphere caused weakness in the left arm. The weakness was ______ to the lesion.
Choose one answer.
The weakness is on the same side as the lesion, so it is ipsilateral. Contralateral would mean the opposite side.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ipsilateral”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.