putamen

American  

[pyoo-tey-min] / pyuˈteɪ mɪn /

noun

plural

putamina

1. Botany. a hard or stony endocarp, as a peach stone.

2. a shell membrane.

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putamen British  

/ pjuːˈteɪmɛn /

noun

1. the hard endocarp or stone of fruits such as the peach, plum, and cherry

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Other Word Forms

• putaminous adjective

Etymology

Origin of putamen

1820–30; < Latin putāmen, equivalent to putā ( re ) to prune, clean + -men resultative suffix

Example Sentences

This is infused deep into the brain using real-time MRI scanning to guide a microcatheter to two brain regions - the caudate nucleus and the putamen.

From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025

As the patients responded, researchers found activity in a surprising place: the putamen.

From Science Daily • Dec. 3, 2024

This suggests pharmacological treatments that target dopamine in the sensorimotor putamen could help combat these conditions, Boswell says.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 29, 2023

There is the putamen, which helps our limbs move.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2021

Drupe globular; the thin crustaceous putamen hollowed out like a cup on one side.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa