putamen

Etymology

From Latin putāmen (“husk, shell”).

Noun

putamen (plural putamens or putamina)

1. (botany) The shell of a nut; the stone of a drupe fruit; endocarp. [from 18th c.]
2. (neuroanatomy) A round structure located at the base of the forebrain, regulating movement and learning. [from 19th c.]
   • 2009 February 6, Fiona McNab et al., “Changes in Cortical Dopamine D1 Receptor Binding Associated with Cognitive Training”, in Science‎, volume 323, number 5915, →DOI, pages 800–802:

     For calculation of D2 BP, bilateral caudate and putamen ROIs were defined anatomically.

   • 2019, Albert Costa, translated by John W. Schwieter, The Bilingual Brain, Penguin, published 2021, page 92:

     [M]ultilingual speakers have a greater density of grey matter in the area involved in articulation and phonological processes, namely the left putamen.

Anagrams

• pneumat-

Etymology

From putō (“clean; prune, crop”) +‎ -men.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /puˈtaː.men/, [pʊˈt̪äːmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /puˈta.men/, [puˈt̪äːmen]

Noun

putāmen n (genitive putāminis); third declension

1. cutting, clipping (that which is cut away)
2. shell, peel (removed from eggs, vegetables etc.)

References

• “putamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “putamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• putamen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.