noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK, US:/əˈmɪɡ.də.lə/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AE2 M IH0 G D AA1 L AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
an almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: amygdaloid nucleus, corpus amygdaloideum
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: basal ganglion
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē)bor. ▲ Arabic لَوْز (lawz)sl. Medieval Latin amygdalalbor. English amygdala 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.
Across languages
Translations
25 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
amígdala
— brain region
Chinese Mandarin:
杏仁體 /杏仁体
(xìngréntǐ)
— brain region
Czech:
amygdala
— brain region
Danish:
amygdala
— brain region
Danish:
mandelkerne
— brain region
Esperanto:
amigdalo
— brain region
Finnish:
mantelitumake
— brain region
French:
amygdale cérébrale
— brain region
Galician:
amígdala
— brain region
Georgian:
ამიგდალა
(amigdala)
— brain region
German:
Amygdala
— brain region
Hungarian:
amigdala
— brain region
Icelandic:
möndlungur
— brain region
Japanese:
扁桃体
(hentōtai)
— brain region
Japanese:
扁桃核
(hentōkaku)
— brain region
Persian:
بادامک
(bādāmak)
— brain region
Polish:
ciało migdałowate
— brain region
Portuguese:
amígdala
— brain region
Romanian:
amigdală
— brain region
Russian:
мозжечко́вая минда́лина
(mozžečkóvaja mindálina)
— brain region
Russian:
миндалеви́дное те́ло
(mindalevídnoje télo)
— brain region