cerebral

See also: cérébral

English

WOTD – 15 November 2009

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ.ɹɪb.ɹəl/, /ˈsɛ.ɹɪb.ɹl̩/, /səˈɹiː.bɹəl/, /səˈɹiː.bɹl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /səˈɹi.bɹəl/, /ˈsɛɹ.əb.ɹəl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪbɹəl, -iːbɹəl

Etymology 1

Borrowing from French cérébral, from Latin cerebrum (“a brain”); equivalent to cerebrum +‎ -al.

Adjective

cerebral (comparative more cerebral, superlative most cerebral)

1. (anatomy, relational) Of or relating to the brain, cerebrum, or cerebral cortex.

   Synonyms: brainial (uncommon), brainy (rare)

2. Intellectual rather than emotional or physical.

   Coordinate term: visceral

   • 2024 September 19, James Miller, “Karl Marx, Weirder Than Ever”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Certainly, “Capital” is a cerebral read and the dangers of the world Marx lived in are not all the same as ours.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2025 April 13, Simon Romero, “Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     His cerebral candidacy, inspired by European and North American political and economic philosophers, and his very appearance, with his light-colored skin, trim physique and penchant for preppy sweaters, contrasted with an electorate largely made up of impoverished Quechua-speaking people and Spanish-speaking mestizos.

Derived terms

• acerebral
• antennocerebral
• anticerebral
• cardiocerebral
• cardiovasculocerebral
• cerebral achromatopsia
• cerebral aqueduct
• cerebral artery
• cerebral blood flow
• cerebral cortex
• cerebral crus
• cerebral edema
• cerebral hemisphere
• cerebral hemorrhage
• cerebralise
• cerebralism
• cerebralist
• cerebralize
• cerebral localisation
• cerebral localization
• cerebrally
• cerebral oximetry
• cerebral palsy
• cerebral salt-wasting syndrome
• cervicocerebral
• circumcerebral
• craniocerebral
• electrocerebral
• extracerebral
• great cerebral vein
• hemicerebral
• hepatocerebral
• hypercerebral
• hypocerebral
• intercerebral
• intracerebral
• meningocerebral
• metacerebral
• microcerebral
• multiple cerebral sclerosis
• myocerebral
• neurocerebral
• noncerebral
• oculocerebral
• orbitocerebral
• overcerebral
• paracerebral
• pericerebral
• postcerebral
• precerebral
• procerebral
• protocerebral
• retinocerebral
• retrocerebral
• rhinocerebral
• spinocerebral
• subcerebral
• supercerebral
• tritocerebral
• uncerebral

Translations

of or relating to the brain

• Arabic: مُخِّيّ (muḵḵiyy)
• Armenian: ուղեղային (hy) (uġeġayin)
• Asturian: cerebral (ast)
• Belarusian: мазгавы́ (mazhavý), цэрэбра́льны (cerebrálʹny)
• Bulgarian: церебра́лен (bg) (cerebrálen)
• Catalan: cerebral (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大腦的 / 大脑的 (zh) (dànǎo de)

• Czech: cerebrální (cs), mozkový (cs)
• Danish: cerebral (da)
• Dutch: cerebraal (nl)
• Esperanto: cerba
• Finnish: aivoperäinen, serebraalinen, aivo- (fi)
• French: cérébral (fr)
• Galician: cerebral (gl)
• Georgian: ცერებრალური (cerebraluri)
• German: zerebral (de), cerebral, zerebral- (de), Gehirn- (de), Hirn- (de), Cerebro-
• Greek: εγκεφαλικός (el) m (egkefalikós)
• Ido: cerebrala (io)
• Irish: ceirbreach
• Italian: cerebrale (it)
• Latin: cerebrālis
• Norwegian: cerebral
• Polish: mózgowy (pl)
• Portuguese: cerebral (pt)
• Romanian: cerebral (ro)
• Russian: мозгово́й (ru) (mozgovój), церебра́льный (ru) (cerebrálʹnyj)
• Slovak: cerebrálny (sk), mozgový (sk)
• Slovene: možganski
• Spanish: cerebral (es)
• Swedish: cerebral (sv)
• Turkish: beyinsel (tr)
• Ukrainian: мозкови́й (mozkovýj), церебра́льний (uk) (cerebrálʹnyj)
• Volapük: breinik

intellectual

• Armenian: մտավոր (hy) (mtavor)
• Catalan: cerebral (ca)
• Czech: intelektuální (cs)
• Finnish: älyllinen (fi)
• French: cérébral (fr)
• German: intellektuell (de), geistig (de), kopfig, verkopft (de)
• Greek: πνευματικός (el) m (pnevmatikós), νοητικός (el) m (noïtikós)
• Indonesian: berotak (id)
• Irish: intleachtúil, meabhrach
• Polish: intelektualny (pl)
• Russian: интеллектуа́льный (ru) (intellektuálʹnyj)
• Turkish: entelektüel (tr)

Etymology 2

Semantic loan from Sanskrit मूर्धन्य (mūrdhanya, “pertaining to the head”).

Adjective

cerebral (comparative more cerebral, superlative most cerebral)

1. (linguistics, obsolete) Retroflex.

Translations

retroflex — see retroflex

References

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

Asturian

Etymology

cerebru +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾeˈbɾal/ [θe.ɾeˈβ̞ɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ce‧re‧bral

Adjective

cerebral (epicene, plural cerebrales)

1. (anatomy, medicine) cerebral

Related terms

• cerebru

Catalan

Etymology

A learned formation from the root of Latin cerebrum and the suffix -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [sə.ɾəˈβɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [sə.ɾəˈbɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [se.ɾeˈbɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

cerebral m or f (masculine and feminine plural cerebrals)

1. cerebral

Derived terms

• paràlisi cerebral

Related terms

• cervell

Danish

Etymology

From French cérébral (“cerebral”), from Latin cerebrum (“brain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /serəbraːl/, [serəˈb̥ʁɑːˀl]

Adjective

cerebral

1. cerebral (of, or relating to the brain)

Inflection

Inflection of cerebral

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	cerebral	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	cerebralt	—	—2
plural	cerebrale	—	—2
definite attributive1	cerebrale	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Further reading

• “cerebral” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “cerebral” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Portuguese

Etymology

From cérebro +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.ɾeˈbɾaw/ [se.ɾeˈbɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.ɾɨˈbɾal/ [sɨ.ɾɨˈβɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.ɾɨˈbɾal/ [sɨ.ɾɨˈβɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.ɾɨˈbɾa.li/ [sɨ.ɾɨˈβɾa.li]

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: ce‧re‧bral

Adjective

cerebral m or f (plural cerebrais)

1. (relational) brain, cerebral cortex; cerebral

Derived terms

• cerebralmente

Related terms

• cérebro

Further reading

• “cerebral”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cerebral”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “cerebral” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “cerebral”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “cerebral”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “cerebral”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French cérébral.

Adjective

cerebral m or n (feminine singular cerebrală, masculine plural cerebrali, feminine/neuter plural cerebrale)

1. cerebral

Declension

Declension of cerebral

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	cerebral		cerebrală	cerebrali	cerebrale
	definite	cerebralul		cerebrala	cerebralii	cerebralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	cerebral		cerebrale	cerebrali	cerebrale
	definite	cerebralului		cerebralei	cerebralilor	cerebralelor

Spanish

Etymology

From cerebro +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾeˈbɾal/ [θe.ɾeˈβ̞ɾal] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /seɾeˈbɾal/ [se.ɾeˈβ̞ɾal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ce‧re‧bral

Adjective

cerebral m or f (masculine and feminine plural cerebrales)

1. cerebral

Derived terms

• circunvolución cerebral
• conmoción cerebral
• corteza cerebral
• derrame cerebral
• hemisferio cerebral
• parálisis cerebral
• protuberancia cerebral

Related terms

• cerebro

Further reading

• “cerebral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Adjective

cerebral (comparative mer cerebral, superlative mest cerebral)

1. (anatomy) cerebral
2. intellectual (rather than emotional)

Declension

Inflection of cerebral

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	cerebral	mer cerebral	mest cerebral
neuter singular	cerebralt	mer cerebralt	mest cerebralt
plural	cerebrala	mer cerebrala	mest cerebrala
masculine plural2	cerebrale	mer cerebrala	mest cerebrala
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	cerebrale	mer cerebrale	mest cerebrale
all	cerebrala	mer cerebrala	mest cerebrala

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• “cerebral”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “cerebral”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “cerebral”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)