English Explanatory Dictionary

amygdala

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Each one of the two regions of the brain, located as a pair in the medial temporal lobe, believed to play a key role in processing emotions, such as fear and pleasure, in both animals and humans.

Pronunciation

/əˈmɪɡ.də.lə/ en-us-amygdala.ogg

Word forms

amygdala amygdalas amygdalae

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē)bor. ▲ Arabic لَوْز (lawz)sl. Medieval Latin amygdalalbor. English amygdala Learned borrowing from Latin amygdala (“almond, amygdala”), from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē, “almond”), named as such due to its shape. Doublet of almond, amygdale, and mandorla.

Related words

amygdalian amygdalin amygdalo- amygdaloid mesoamygdala

Derived words

amygdalar amygdalase amygdalic extended amygdala intraamygdala
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on A Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary