Efferent : Generally, a connection or pathway from a node. 1. The terms afferent and efferent were first used by Unzer (1771; see English translation, 1851, pp. 69, 254) to indicate toward or away from, respectively, the central nervous system (Meckel, 1817) or, conversely, away from or toward the non-neuronal tissues of the body; see Sherrington (1900, p. 784), Clarke & O'Malley (1996, p. 342). These neutral terms avoid functional implications that may or may not be valid; for example, afferent information may not be sensory if it does not reach the level of consciousness. 2. A connection or projection from a gray matter region, neuron type (Bota & Swanson, 2007), neuron (Waldeyer, 1891), or site. The preferred synonym is output.