cerebral

Forms

cerebral m or n (feminine singular cerebrală, masculine plural cerebrali, feminine/neuter plural cerebrale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cérébral.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Scriban also relates it to cerebru “brain”.^[6] The French word was formed before 1615 on the stem of Latin cerebrum (“brain”);^[7][2] DELR describes it as from a learned Latin cerebrālis.^[7][2] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-s-ro- (“brain, the thing in the head”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1841 and DELR's from 1843, both with the anatomical sense “of the brain”.^[5][2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 explains it as belonging to the brain, as in cerebral fevers and inflammations.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In French the word entered medical language in 1829.^[7] From 1825 it was also used of the intellect rather than the organ, and of a person ruled by reason.^[7] In Romanian, the 19th-century dictionaries give the anatomical sense, and DA's quotation from Maiorescu's Logica still speaks of cerebral localisations.^[9][10][11] DA adds the extension “mental, intellectual”, which it calls improper.^[11] A cerebral person, often used as a noun, is someone guided only by reason, at times too much so.^[4][12] DELR's family includes cerebru (1843), intracerebral (1915), cerebralitate (1928) and cerebralism (1982).^[2]

Timeline

• 1841 – first record, in the anatomical sense.^[5]
• 1843 – the date DELR gives, and the first date of cerebru “brain”.^[2]
• 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]
• 1915 – intracerebral.^[2]
• 1928 – cerebralitate “the quality of being cerebral”.^[2]
• 1982 – cerebralism “exaggerated rationalism”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the brain, relating to the brain and its functions: comoție cerebrală “concussion”.^[4][12]
2. Intellectual, mental, rational: activitate cerebrală “mental activity”.^[4][3]
3. (of people, often as a noun) Guided only by reason, sometimes excessively.^[4][13]

Word family

• cerebralism
• cerebralitate
• intracerebral

Related words

• cerebru
• creier
• Latin cerebrum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. cerebral
3. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 364
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 172
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cerebral
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 260
7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. cerebral
10. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 179
11. ^ a b Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. cerebral
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 394
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. cerebral