hippocampus

See also: Hippocampus

English

Etruscan statuette of a hippocamp c. 540 BCE,

Hippocampus animation (anatomy)

A human hippocampus alongside a sea horse.

Etymology

From Late Latin hippocampus, from Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ῐ̔́ππος (híppos, “horse”) +‎ κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)). The anatomy sense is so named from its resemblance to the seahorse.

Noun

hippocampus (plural hippocampi or hippocampuses)

1. (mythology) A mythological creature with the front head and forelimbs of a horse and the rear of a dolphin.

   Synonym: hippocamp

2. (neuroanatomy, anatomy) A part of the brain located inside the temporal lobe, consisting mainly of grey matter. It is a component of the limbic system and plays a role in memory and emotion.
   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 63:

     The hippocampus is central to the laying down of memories.

Synonyms

• (neuroanatomy): HIPP

Holonyms

• (neuroanatomy): limbic system

Derived terms

• hippocampal
• hippocampic

Translations

mythological creature

• Dutch: hippocampus (nl) m, hippokampos m
• Finnish: hippokamppi (fi)
• French: hippocampe (fr) m
• German: Hippokamp m
• Greek: ιππόκαμπος (el) m (ippókampos)

  Ancient: ἱππόκαμπος m (hippókampos)

• Italian: ippocampo (it) m
• Polish: hippokamp m
• Portuguese: hipocampo (pt) m
• Romanian: hipocamp (ro) m
• Russian: гиппока́мп (ru) m (gippokámp)
• Spanish: hipocampo m
• Ukrainian: гіпока́мп m (hipokámp)

brain region

• Catalan: hipocamp (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海馬體／海马体 (hǎimǎtǐ)

• Czech: hipokampus m
• Dutch: hippocampus (nl) m
• Esperanto: hipokampo
• Finnish: aivoturso (fi), hippokampus (fi)
• French: hippocampe (fr) m
• German: Hippocampus (de) m, Ammonshorn n
• Greek: ιππόκαμπος (el) m (ippókampos)
• Italian: ippocampo (it) m
• Japanese: 海馬 (ja) (かいば, kaiba)
• Kazakh: гиппокамп (gippokamp)
• Polish: hipokamp (pl) m
• Portuguese: hipocampo (pt) m
• Romanian: hipocamp (ro) m
• Slovene: hipokampus m
• Spanish: hipocampo m
• Ukrainian: гіпока́мп m (hipokámp)
• Vietnamese: hồi hải mã

Further reading

• hippocampus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• hippocampus (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Alternative forms

• hippocampos

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) +‎ κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /hip.poˈkam.pus/, [hɪpːɔˈkämpʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ip.poˈkam.pus/, [ipːoˈkämpus]

Noun

hippocampus m (genitive hippocampī); second declension

1. a seahorse

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	hippocampus	hippocampī
Genitive	hippocampī	hippocampōrum
Dative	hippocampō	hippocampīs
Accusative	hippocampum	hippocampōs
Ablative	hippocampō	hippocampīs
Vocative	hippocampe	hippocampī

Descendants

• → Catalan: hipocamp
• → English: hippocampus
• → French: hippocampe
• → German: Hippokamp
• → Italian: ippocampo
• → Portuguese: hipocampo
• → Romanian: hipocamp
• → Spanish: hipocampo

References

• “hippocampus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• hippocampus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “hippocampus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers