What does "cerebral" mean?

1. (relating to the brain) relating to the brain, especially the part that controls thought and movement. 2. (linguistics) a technical word for sounds made by curling the tongue back.

How do you use "cerebral"?

This term is largely replaced by 'retroflex' in modern linguistics.

cerebral

adj.

US //ˈsɛɹəbɹəɫ// UK //səɹˈiːbɹəl// cere·bral

1 relating to the brain (adj.)
C1 Advanced Technical Medicine

relating to the brain, especially the part that controls thought and movement.

pertaining to the cerebrum or the brain as a whole.

Example

The patient was kept in the hospital for observation after a cerebral injury.

Example

The surgeon explained that the cerebral cortex is responsible for many high-level functions, including language and information processing.
- brain related
- neurological
2 linguistics (adj.)
C2 Proficiency Archaic Technical Science

a technical word for sounds made by curling the tongue back.

an older term for retroflex consonants, produced with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate.

Example

In some languages, the 't' sound is cerebral, meaning the tongue curls back.

Example

Nineteenth-century philologists frequently used the term 'cerebral' to categorise the retroflex consonants found in Sanskrit and other Indic languages.

Usage

This term is largely replaced by 'retroflex' in modern linguistics.
- retroflex

Etymology 1

Borrowing from French cérébral, from Latin cerebrum (“a brain”); equivalent to cerebrum + -al.

Etymology 2

Semantic loan from Sanskrit मूर्धन्य (mūrdhanya, “pertaining to the head”).