amygdala
/əˈmɪɡ.də.lə/ noun
Forms amygdalas amygdalae
- noun (neuroanatomy) 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.
Synonyms
Etymology
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.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “amygdala”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details