brain

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. cerebrum, cerebellum; mentality, intellect, intelligence, mind; gray matter. —v. t. See killing.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The organ of intelligence]

Syn. pons, cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata; encephalon, center of the nervous system, gray matter, cerebral matter, cortical substance, medullary substance, brain cells.

2. [The intelligence; often plural ]

Syn. intellect, understanding, mental ability; see genius 1 , head 1 , mind 1 .

3. [*A very intelligent person]

Syn. genius, intellectual, scholar, mastermind; see genius 2 , intellectual .

• have on the brain,

Syn. be obsessed with, be preoccupied by, think about obsessively, be fixated on; see haunt 3 , occupy 3 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. smart person genius, intellectual, scholar, savant, wizard, prodigy, thinker, mastermind, Einstein, *egghead, sage, wit, mental giant.

2. mind *gray matter, *thinking cap, *bean, encephalon, *noodle, *upper story. ''An apparatus with which we think that we think.''—Ambrose Bierce. ''An invention of the universe in order to study itself.''—Anon.

WORD FIND

• abnormally small brain: microencephalon

• ancient portion, regulates hunger, thirst, fighting, sex: limbic system, reptilian brain

• base, regulates breathing and circulation: medulla oblongata

• body temperature and blood pressure regulator: hypothalamus

• connector of right and left hemispheres: corpus callosum

• egg-shaped patch controlling speech muscles: Broca’s area

• exam of brain waves: electroenchephalogram (EEG).

• heat, cold, pain, pressure sensor: thalamus

• inflammation: encephalitis, meningitis

• left or right side: hemisphere

• muscular coordinator in back of skull: cerebellum

• nerve cell: neuron

• outer brain area controlling perception, reasoning, memory: cerebrum

• outer layer: cortex, dura mater

• seizure disease caused by electrical disturbances: epilepsy

• superhuman right-brain functioning: idiot savant syndrome

ANT.: 1. idiot, moron, imbecile.

see intelligence, thought

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. The seat of the faculty of intelligence and reason: head, mind. Informal: gray matter. See THOUGHTS. 2. The faculty of thinking, reasoning, and acquiring and applying knowledge. Often used in plural: brainpower, intellect, intelligence, mentality, mind, sense, understanding, wit. Slang: smart (used in plural). See ABILITY, THOUGHTS. 3. A person of great mental ability: intellect, intellectual, mind, thinker. See ABILITY.