Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Hippocampus
/ˌhɪpəˈkæmpəs/noun
The curved structure in the temporal lobe of the brain that is central to forming new memories.
The Greek roots
ἵππος
híppos
horse
κάμπος
kámpos
sea monster
Literally: “horse sea-monster”
The story of the word
ἱππόκαμπος was the creature that drew Poseidon's chariot, horse in front and fish behind, and Greeks used the same name for the seahorse. Aranzi gave it to the ridge in the brain in 1587 because the dissected shape resembles one. Only much later did it turn out to be where new memories are laid down, which no amount of looking at the shape could have suggested.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
hippopotamushippodromePhiliphippocampal
In a sentence
Damage to both hippocampi leaves the past intact and stops any new memory forming.