cerebr(o)-
The brain.
[Latin cerebrum, brain.]
The adjective relating to the brain is cerebral, both physically and with reference to its powers of reasoning; the cerebrum is the pair of lobes at the front of the brain responsible for complex sensory tasks; the cerebellum (literally the little cerebrum), controls balance and movement; to cerebrate is to think. Cerebrospinal refers to the brain and spinal cord viewed together; cerebrovascular (Latin vasculum, a little vessel) similarly refers to the brain and its blood vessels.
Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!
Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.