Advertisement

Origin and history of cerebral

cerebral(adj.)

1801, "pertaining to the brain," from French cérébral (16c.), from Latin cerebrum "the brain" (also "the understanding"), from PIE *keres-, from root *ker- (1) "horn; head."

The meaning "intellectual, clever" is from 1929. Cerebral palsy attested from 1824, originally a general term for cases of paralysis that seemed to be traceable to "a morbid state of the encephalon." Used from c. 1860 in a more specific sense based on the work of English surgeon Dr. William Little.

also from 1801

Entries linking to cerebral

cerebration(n.)

"exertion of the brain," whether conscious or unconscious, 1853, coined by English physiologist Dr. William B. Carpenter (1813-1885) from Latin cerebrum "brain" (see cerebral) + -ation. Related: Cerebrate (v.); cerebrated.

cerebrovascular(adj.)

"relating to the brain and its blood vessels," 1935, from cerebro-, combining form of Latin cerebrum (see cerebral) + vascular.

Advertisement

More to explore

intellectual
late 14c., "grasped by the understanding" (rather than by the senses), from Old French intellectuel (13c.) and directly from Latin intellectualis "relating to the understanding," from intellectus "discernment, understanding," noun use of past participle of intelligere "to underst
athetosis
"condition in which the extremities perform slow, involuntary motions" (a form of childhood cerebral palsy), 1871, with -...
aphasia
France and of our own country have lately contained a good deal of original matter bearing upon this obscure feature in cerebral...
frog-march
also frog's march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along
elephant
c. 1300, olyfaunt, from Old French olifant (12c., Modern French éléphant), from Latin elephantus, from Greek elephas (genitive elephantos) "elephant; ivory," probably from a non-Indo-European language, likely via Phoenician (compare Hamitic elu "elephant," source of the word for
repent
c. 1300, repenten, "be grieved over one's past and seek forgiveness; feel such regret for sins, crimes, or omissions as produces amendment of life," from Old French repentir (11c.), from re-, here perhaps used as an intensive prefix, "very much" (see re-), + Vulgar Latin *penitir
empty
c. 1200, from Old English æmettig, of persons, "at leisure, not occupied; unmarried" (senses now obsolete), also, of receptacles, "containing nothing," of places, "unoccupied," from æmetta "leisure." Watkins explains it as from Proto-Germanic *e-mot-ja-, with a prefix of uncertai
bedlam
"scene of mad confusion," 1660s, from colloquial pronunciation of Bethlehem, short for "Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, which was founded 1247 as a priory, mentioned as a hospital by 1330 and as a lunatic hospital by 1402. It was converted to a civic lunatic asylu
memory
late 13c., "recollection (of someone or something); remembrance, awareness or consciousness (of someone or something)," also "fame, renown, reputation;" from Anglo-French memorie (Old French memoire, 11c., "mind, memory, remembrance; memorial, record") and directly from Latin mem
shadow
Middle English shadwe, from Old English sceadwe, sceaduwe "shade, the effect of interception of sunlight; dark image cast by someone or something when interposed between an object and a source of light," oblique cases ("to the," "from the," "of the," "in the") of sceadu (see shad

Share cerebral

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near cerebral
Advertisement