visceral

See also: viscéral

English

Etymology

From Middle French viscéral, from Latin viscera, plural of viscus (“any internal organ of the body”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪsəɹəl/

Adjective

visceral (comparative more visceral, superlative most visceral)

1. (anatomy) Of or relating to the viscera—internal organs of the body; splanchnic.
   • 1875, Charles Darwin, Insectivorous Plants, ch. 6:

     Some areolar tissue free from elastic tissue was next procured from the visceral cavity of a toad.

   • 1914, Arthur B. Reeve, The Dream Doctor, ch. 22 The X-Ray "Movies":

     "I can focus the X-rays first on the screen by means of a special quartz objective which I have devised. Then I take the pictures. Here, you see, are the lungs in slow or rapid respiration. There is the rhythmically beating heart, distinctly pulsating in perfect outline. There is the liver, moving up and down with the diaphragm, the intestines, and the stomach. You can see the bones moving with the limbs, as well as the inner visceral life."

2. Having to do with the response of the body as opposed to the intellect, as in the distinction between feeling and thinking.
   • 1630, John Donne, "Death's Duel":

     Our meditation of his death should be more visceral, and affect us more, because it is of a thing already done.

   • 1915, H. G. Wells, The Research Magnificent, Prelude – On Fear and Aristocracy:

     [T]he discretion of an aristocrat is in his head, a tactical detail, it has nothing to do with this visceral sinking, this ebb in the nerves.

   • 1964 July 3, "Books: Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan," Time:

     Television and other "electric media" are oral-auditory, tactile, visceral, and involve the individual almost without volition.

   • 2011 Feb. 17, Ann Hulbert, "Book Review: Joyce Carol Oates’s Widow’s Lament," New York Times (retrieved 10 Aug. 2011):

     At its visceral core, grief is a stress response.

3. (figuratively, obsolete) Having deep sensibility.
   • Bishop Reynolds

     Love is of all other the inmost and most visceral affection; and therefore called, by the apostle, 'bowels of love.'

Synonyms

• (anatomy): splanchnic
• (to do with the response of the body): See Thesaurus:visceral

Antonyms

• cerebral

Derived terms

• paravisceral
• supravisceral
• visceral pleura
• viscerally

Related terms

• eviscerate
• viscera

Translations

visceral

• Dutch: visceraal (nl), instinctief (nl), diepgeworteld
• German: viszeral (de), instinktiv (de), intuitiv (de), tief sitzend, aus dem Bauch heraus, zu den Eingeweiden gehörig

• Ido: vicerala

See also

• gut feeling
• gut reaction

Further reading

• visceral in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• visceral at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• calivers, cavilers, claviers

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Catalan

Adjective

visceral (masculine and feminine plural viscerals)

1. visceral

Related terms

• víscera

Further reading

• “visceral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “visceral” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “visceral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “visceral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Portuguese

Adjective

visceral m or f (plural viscerais, comparable)

1. visceral

Related terms

• víscera

Further reading

• “visceral” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

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Spanish

Etymology

From víscera.

Adjective

visceral (plural viscerales)

1. visceral

Further reading

• “visceral” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.