any complex structure containing an intricate network of parts:
the plexus of international relations.
Origin
1675-85; < Neo-Latin: an interweaving, twining = Latinplect(ere) to plait, twine + -tus suffix of v. action
Examples from the web for plexus
On one question, students must decide whether the trouble is with the cardiopulmonary plexus or the arch of the aorta.
If that got you in the solar plexus, you might want to sit down before you keep reading.
He is wearing a blue officer's coat and a shirt open to his solar plexus.
Sometimes, elderly fellows with their trousers up around their solar plexus still wander in by accident, looking for a tie.
The plexus on the vertebral artery is continued on to the basilar, posterior cerebral, and cerebellar arteries.
The communications which thus take place form what is called a plexus.
At the junction of the yolk-sac and body-stalk each vein is joined by a branch from the vascular plexus of the yolk-sac.
The superficial part of the cardiac plexus lies above its bifurcation, between it and the arch of the aorta.
The nerves are derived from the cardiac plexus, which are formed partly from the vagi, and partly from the sympathetic trunks.
The veins form a close cavernous plexus beneath the mucous membrane.
British Dictionary definitions for plexus
plexus
/ˈplɛksəs/
noun (pl) -uses, -us
1.
any complex network of nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels
2.
an intricate network or arrangement
Word Origin
C17: New Latin, from Latin plectere to braid, plait
Word Origin and History for plexus
n.
1680s, Modern Latin, literally "braid, network," noun use of past participle of Latin plectere "to twine, braid, fold" (see complex (adj.)); used of a network, such as solar plexus "network of nerves in the abdomen" (see solar). Related: Plexal.
plexus in Medicine
plexus plex·us (plěk'səs) n.pl.plexus or plex·us·es
A structure in the form of a network, especially of nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatics.
A combination of interlaced parts; a network.
plexus in Technology
A modular World-Wide Webserver written in Perl by Tony Sanders . Comes with interfaces to allow many other information services to be served via the Web. Version 3.0m 1994-07-22 (ftp://ftp.earth.com/plexus/). (1994-07-22)