limbic
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of limbic
First recorded in 1880–85; limb(us) 2 + -ic
Explanation
The adjective limbic describes a brain system that is largely responsible for regulating emotions. The limbic system is also where we form a lot of our memories. Limbic derives from the Latin limbus, or "edge," and it's used to describe anatomical structures that border another part. In the case of the brain, the limbic system sits along the edge of both sides of the thalamus. When it comes to emotions, your limbic system is crucial, since it regulates how you feel and how you react to those feelings, as well as affecting the way you learn, remember, and even how you identify odors.
Vocabulary lists containing limbic
Vocabulary from Readings 5, Unit 1
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The Summer of Lost Letters
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The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even after her mother’s death in 2020 at 96, that censorious voice remained “embedded in my most primitive responses, in my very limbic system.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025
The researchers also observed elevated activity in deeper limbic areas like the amygdala, which are essential for generating strong emotions, such as anxiety and fear.
From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024
In this process, our limbic system is activated and overrides our frontal lobe.
From Salon • Oct. 26, 2023
And the nerve stimulation also activates parts of the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in regulating the limbic regions of the brain that control emotion.
From Scientific American • Jul. 4, 2023
The interests of the cerebral cortex and limbic system are well represented; the R-complex less so.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
