Etymology

amygdala

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Today it means: Each one of the two regions of the brain, located as a pair in the medial temporal lobe, believed to play a key role in processing emotions, such as fear and pleasure, in both animals and humans. Full definition →

Medieval Latin amygdala ← Arabic لَوْز (lawz) ← Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē)
  2. Arabicلَوْز (lawz)
  3. Medieval Latinamygdala
  4. English todayamygdala

Learned borrowing from Latin amygdala (“almond, amygdala”), from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē, “almond”), named as such due to its shape. Doublet of almond, amygdale, and mandorla.

Words from the same roots

Latinamygdala all →

almondamygdalaceousamygdaleamygdalitisamygdalose

Ancient Greekἀμυγδάλη all →

almondlaetrileamygdaloidamygdaleamygdalitis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.