hippocampus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a curved structure deep in each temporal lobe of the brain that is central to memory, learning, and spatial navigation

   Damage to the hippocampus can prevent the formation of new long-term memories.

2. 2
   noun

   a seahorse, especially a member of the zoological genus Hippocampus

   The male Hippocampus carries developing eggs in a brood pouch.

3. 3
   noun

   a mythological sea creature with the foreparts of a horse and the tail of a fish

   A carved hippocampus pulled the sea god's chariot across the panel.

From Late Latin hippocampus and Greek hippokampos, 'sea horse,' formed from hippos, 'horse,' + kampos, 'sea monster.' The zoological name denotes the seahorse. Anatomists later named the brain structure for its curved resemblance to that animal; hippocampus minor was a historical name for the calcar avis.

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