cerebellum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cerebellum, diminutive of cerebrum.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsɛ.ɹɪˈbɛl.əm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsɛɹ.əˈbɛl.əm/
• Rhymes: -ɛləm

Noun

cerebellum (plural cerebellums or cerebella)

1. (neuroanatomy) Part of the hindbrain in vertebrates. In humans it lies between the brainstem and the back of the cerebrum and is formed of two lateral lobes and a median lobe. It plays an important role in sensory perception, motor output, balance and posture.

   Synonym: parencephalon

   Holonym: hindbrain

   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan, page 61:

     Although the cerebellum occupies just 10 per cent of the cranial cavity, it has more than half the brain’s neurons.

Derived terms

• archicerebellum
• cerebellar
• cerebellectomy
• cerebellic
• cerebellin
• cerebellitis
• cerebello-, cerebelli-, cerebell-
• cerebellotomy
• cerebellous
• cerebrocerebellum
• decerebellate
• hemicerebellum
• neocerebellum
• paleocerebellum
• spinocerebellum
• vestibulocerebellum

Related terms

• cerebrum

Translations

part of the hindbrain in vertebrates

• Arabic: مُخَيْخ (ar) m (muḵayḵ)

  Egyptian Arabic: مخيخ m (moxéx)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܡܘܼܚܘܿܢܵܐ m (mūḥōnā)

• Armenian: ուղեղիկ (hy) (uġeġik)
• Belarusian: мо́зачак m (mózačak), мазжачо́к m (mazžačók), мазачо́к m (mazačók)
• Bengali: লঘুমস্তিষ্ক (loghumostiśko)
• Bulgarian: ма́лък мо́зък m (málǎk mózǎk)
• Catalan: cerebel (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小腦 / 小脑 (zh) (xiǎonǎo)

• Czech: mozeček (cs) m
• Danish: lillehjerne
• Dutch: kleine hersenen pl
• Esperanto: cerbeto
• Finnish: pikkuaivot (fi) pl
• French: cervelet (fr) m
• Galician: cerebelo (gl) m
• Georgian: ნათხემი (natxemi)
• German: Kleinhirn (de) m
• Greek: παρεγκεφαλίς (el) f (paregkefalís), παρεγκεφαλίδα (el) f (paregkefalída)

  Ancient: παρεγκεφαλίς f (parenkephalís)

• Hebrew: הַמּוֹחַ הַקָּטָן (he) m (hamoákh hakatán)
• Hindi: अनुमस्तिष्क (anumastiṣk), सेरिबेलम (seribelam)
• Hungarian: kisagy (hu)
• Ido: cerebelo (io)
• Indonesian: otak kecil (id), serebelum
• Italian: cervelletto (it) m
• Japanese: 小脳 (ja) (しょうのう, shōnō)
• Kalmyk: гиҗгин экн (gijgin ekn)
• Kazakh: мишық (mişyq)
• Korean: 소뇌(小腦) (ko) (sonoe)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: mejîk (ku) m, mejîkok m

• Macedonian: мал мозок m (mal mozok)
• Malay: serebelum
• Maori: roroiti, roro tuarongo
• Mongolian: бага тархи (baga tarxi)
• North Frisian: Litjbrain m or f (Sylt)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lillehjerne

  Nynorsk: veslehjerne

• Persian: مخچه (fa) (moxče)
• Polish: móżdżek (pl) m
• Portuguese: cerebelo (pt) m
• Romanian: cerebel (ro), creieraș (ro)
• Russian: мозжечо́к (ru) m (mozžečók)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мали мозак m

  Roman: mali mozak m

• Sicilian: midudda (scn) f
• Slovak: mozoček m
• Slovene: mali možgani m pl
• Spanish: cerebelo (es) m
• Swedish: lillhjärna (sv) c, cerebellum (sv)
• Tajik: мағзча (maġzča)
• Telugu: అనుమస్తిష్కము (te) (anumastiṣkamu), చిన్నమెదడు (cinnamedaḍu)
• Thai: สมองน้อย
• Turkish: beyincik (tr)
• Ukrainian: мо́зочок m (mózočok), мі́зочок m (mízočok)
• Uyghur: كىچىك مېڭە (kichik më'nge)
• Uzbek: miyacha, kichik miya
• Vietnamese: tiểu não (vi)
• Welsh: serebelwm m

References

• “cerebellum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “cerebellum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

From cerebrum (“brain”) +‎ -lum (diminutive ending).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɛ.rɛˈbɛl.lũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃe.reˈbɛl.lum]

Noun

cerebellum n (genitive cerebellī); second declension

1. diminutive of cerebrum:
   1. (anatomy) a little brain
   2. the seat of senses, intellect

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	cerebellum	cerebella
genitive	cerebellī	cerebellōrum
dative	cerebellō	cerebellīs
accusative	cerebellum	cerebella
ablative	cerebellō	cerebellīs
vocative	cerebellum	cerebella

Derived terms

• cerebellāre

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: crier, crieru, criel, crielu
  • Megleno-Romanian: criel
  • Romanian: creier, creiel — Banat, rare, archaic, regional
• Dalmatian:
  • carviale
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: ciarbeddu, ciarbellu, cerbellu
  • Italian: cervello
  • Sicilian: ciriveddu, cirveddu, cirbeddu
• North Italian:
  • Friulian: cerviel, čurviel (alternative orthography)
  • Lombard: servel, sarvel, hervel
  • Piedmontese: sarvel, sarvele, survele
  • Romansch: tscharvè
  • Venetan: serveło, zerveło, çervèl, servèl, zhervèl, sarveło, çarvèl, zharvèl, cèlebro
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: cèrvél, cèrvèla
  • Old French: cervel, cervele
    • Middle French: cerveau, cervel, cervelle
      • French: cerveau, cervelle
  • Norman: chèrvé
  • Walloon: cervea
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: cervell
  • Occitan: cervèl, cervèla
    • Limousin: cerveu
    • Provençal: cervèu
    • Vivaro-Alpine: cerveu
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: cherbeddu, cherveddu, cerveddu, cerbeddu (Campidanese)
• Borrowings:
  • → Asturian: cerebelu
  • → Catalan: cerebel
  • → English: cerebellum
  • → Galician: cerebelo
  • → Greek: τσερβέλο (tservélo)
  • → Italian: cerebello ⇒ cerebellare
  • → Portuguese: cerebelo
  • → Romanian: cerebel
  • → Spanish: cerebelo

References

• “cerebellum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cerebellum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.