Advertisement
cerebral (adj.)
1801, "pertaining to the brain," from French cérébral (16c.), from Latin cerebrum "the brain" (also "the understanding"), from PIE *keres-, from root *ker- (1) "horn; head."
The meaning "intellectual, clever" is from 1929. Cerebral palsy attested from 1824, originally a general term for cases of paralysis that seemed to be traceable to "a morbid state of the encephalon." Used from c. 1860 in a more specific sense based on the work of English surgeon Dr. William Little.
updated on November 19, 2022
Advertisement
Advertisement
Dictionary entries near cerebral
ceratosaurus
Cerberus
cere
cereal
cerebellum
cerebral
cerebration
cerebro-
cerebrovascular
cerebrum
ceremonial