hippocampus

From Late Latin hippocampus, from Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ῐ̔́ππος (hĭ́ppos, “horse”) +‎ κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)). The anatomy sense is so named from its resemblance to the seahorse.

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hippocampus (plural hippocampi or hippocampuses)

2. (mythology) A mythological creature with the front head and forelimbs of a horse and the rear of a fish.

   Synonyms: hippocamp, sea horse

4. (neuroanatomy, anatomy) A part of the brain located inside the temporal lobe, consisting mainly of grey matter. It is a component of the limbic system and plays a role in memory and emotion.

   Synonym: HIPP

   Holonyms: limbic system < brain < central nervous system, CNS

   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 63:

     The hippocampus is central to the laying down of memories.

• hippocampus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• hippocampus (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• hippocampos

From Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) +‎ κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [hɪp.pɔˈkam.pʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ip.poˈkam.pus]

hippocampus m (genitive hippocampī); second declension

1. a seahorse

Second-declension noun.

• → Catalan: hipocamp
• → English: hippocampus
• → French: hippocampe
• → German: Hippokamp
• → Italian: ippocampo
• → Portuguese: hipocampo
• → Romanian: hipocamp
• → Spanish: hipocampo

• “hippocampus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• hippocampus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “hippocampus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers