What does "decerebrate" mean?

To remove the cerebrum in order to eliminate brain function.

What is a synonym for "decerebrate"?

Common synonyms include: decerebrize.

Pronounced //dɪˈsɛɹəbɹət//.

//dɪˈsɛɹəbɹət// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To remove the cerebrum in order to eliminate brain function.
"[…] and the correct principles of delivering it through the different straits of the pelvis after the head has been decerebrated and crushed."
2
remove the cerebrum from (a human body) wordnet

Adjective

1
Having the cerebrum removed. not-comparable
"In this respect the decerebrate condition offers some resemblance to the cataleptic state."

"In this respect the decerebrate condition offers some resemblance to the cataleptic state."

From de- + cerebrate.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.