pons
pons \'pa:nz\ \'pa:n-.te-z\ \.pa:nz-v*-'ro--le--.i-, -le--.e-\ n or pon.tes [NL pons (Varolii), lit., bridge of Varoli, fr. Costanzo Varoli)] plX -1575 It surgeon and anatomist : a broad mass of chiefly transverse nerve fibers conspicuous on the ventr al surface of the brain of man and lower mammals at the anterior end of the medulla oblongata
Webster's English Dictionary