#cerebrum

"the brain," 1610s, from Latin cerebrum "the brain" (also "the understanding"), from PIE *keres-, from root *ker- (1) "horn; head."

*ker- (1) Proto-Indo-European root meaning "horn; head," with derivatives referring to horned animals, horn-shaped objects, and projecting parts.

It might form all or part of: alpenhorn; Capricorn; carat; carotid; carrot; carotene; cerato-; cerebellum; cerebral; cerebrum; cervical; cervix; charivari; cheer; chelicerae; corn (n.2) "hardening of the skin;" cornea; corner; cornet; cornucopia; cranium; flugelhorn; hart; hartebeest; horn; hornbeam; hornblende; hornet; keratin; kerato-; migraine; monoceros; reindeer; rhinoceros; saveloy; serval; triceratops; unicorn.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit srngam "horn;" Persian sar "head," Avestan sarah- "head;" Greek karnon "horn," koryne "club, mace," koryphe "head;" Latin cornu "horn," cervus "deer;" Old English horn "horn of an animal;" Welsh carw "deer."

*ker- (2) Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow."

It might form all or part of: accretion; accrue; cereal; Ceres; concrete; create; creation; creature; Creole; crescendo; crescent; crew (n.) "group of soldiers;" croissant; cru; decrease; Dioscuri; excrescence; excrescent; griot; increase; Kore; procerity; procreate; procreation; recreate; recreation; recruit; sincere.

It might also be the source of: Greek kouros "boy," korē "girl;" Latin crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell," Ceres, goddess of agriculture, creare "to bring forth, create, produce;" Armenian serem "bring forth," serim "be born."

*ker-(3) Proto-Indo-European root meaning "heat, fire."

It might form all or part of: carbon; carboniferous; carbuncle; cremate; cremation; hearth.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit kudayati "singes;" Latin carbo "a coal, glowing coal; charcoal," cremare "to burn;" Lithuanian kuriu, kurti "to heat," karštas "hot," krosnis "oven;" Old Church Slavonic kurjo "to smoke," krada "fireplace, hearth;" Russian ceren "brazier;" Old High German harsta "roasting;" Gothic hauri "coal;" Old Norse hyrr "fire;" Old English heorð "hearth."

and a nice little sketch featuring. dog

Ah I almost forgot to post it here

Backseat Driver

The brain region located at the lower back of the head called the cerebellum contributes vitally to many and varied functions such as in memory, language and motor skills, as it interacts with the cerebrum, the largest brain part. This study maps, using functional MRI scans, the functional connectivity developing between these brain regions in children from birth to aged five

Read the published research article here

Image from work by Wenjiao Lyu, Kim-Han Thung and Khoi Minh Huynh, and colleagues

Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Nature Communications, July 2025