thalamus

Etymology

From Latin thalamus, from Ancient Greek θάλαμος (thálamos, “an inner chamber, a bedroom, a bed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθæləməs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

thalamus (plural thalami or thalamuses)

1. (neuroanatomy) Either of two large, ovoid structures of grey matter within the forebrain that relay sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex.

   Holonym: diencephalon

2. (botany) The receptacle of a flower; a torus.
3. A thallus.
4. An inner room or nuptial chamber.

Further reading

• “thalamus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “thalamus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “thalamus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Alternative forms

• talamus

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtalamus]

Noun

thalamus m inan

1. thalamus

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin, from Latin thalamus, from Ancient Greek θάλαμος (thálamos).

Noun

thalamus m (plural thalamus)

1. (anatomy) thalamus

Further reading

• “thalamus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek θάλαμος (thálamos, “inner room”), especially from Homer.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰa.la.mus/, [ˈt̪ʰäɫ̪ämʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈta.la.mus/, [ˈt̪äːlämus]

Noun

thalamus m (genitive thalamī); second declension

1. inner room, apartment of a house
2. bedroom, chamber
3. marriage bed
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.689–690:

     crēdit amāns thalamōsque parat, dēdūcitur illūc Ānnā tegēns voltus, ut nova nūpta, suōs.

     The lover believes her, and prepares a bedchamber. Anna, covering her face as a new bride, is escorted to it. (trans. Anne and Peter Wiseman, 2011)

4. (by extension, figuratively) marriage

References

• “thalamus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “thalamus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "thalamus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• thalamus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “thalamus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “thalamus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray