Adjacent Words

hippocampus definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a complex neural structure (shaped like a sea horse) consisting of grey matter and located on the floor of each lateral ventricle; intimately involved in motivation and emotion as part of the limbic system; has a central role in the formation of memories
2: seahorses [syn: Hippocampus, genus Hippocampus]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural hippocampi) Etymology: New Latin, from Greek hippokampos sea horse, from hippos horse + kampos sea monster — more at equine Date: 1706 a curved elongated ridge that extends over the floor of the descending horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain, that consists of gray matter covered on the ventricular surface with white matter, and that is involved in forming, storing, and processing memory • hippocampal adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. hippocampi) 1 any marine fish of the genus Hippocampus, swimming vertically and with a head suggestive of a horse; a sea horse. 2 Anat. the elongated ridges on the floor of each lateral ventricle of the brain, thought to be the centre of emotion and the autonomic nervous system. Etymology: L f. Gk hippokampos f. hippos horse + kampos sea monster

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hippocampus Hip`po*cam"pus, n. [L., the sea horse, Gr. ? a hippocampus (in senses 1 and 2); "i`ppos horse + ? to bend.] 1. (Class. Myth.) A fabulous monster, with the head and fore quarters of a horse joined to the tail of a dolphin or other fish (Hippocampus brevirostris), -- seen in Pompeian paintings, attached to the chariot of Neptune. --Fairholt.