What does "diencephalon" mean?

The region of the human brain, specifically the human forebrain, that includes the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus, the prethalamus or subthalamus, and the pretectum.

How do you pronounce "diencephalon"?

Pronounced //ˌdaɪənˈsɛfəlɒn//.

Diencephalon

Q: What is a synonym for "diencephalon"?

Common synonyms include: interbrain, 'tweenbrain, betweenbrain, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, cerebrum.

//ˌdaɪənˈsɛfəlɒn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The region of the human brain, specifically the human forebrain, that includes the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus, the prethalamus or subthalamus, and the pretectum.
2
the posterior division of the forebrain; connects the cerebral hemispheres with the mesencephalon wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

interbrain 'tweenbrain betweenbrain cerebellum cerebral cortex cerebrum

Etymology

From New Latin diencephalon, from di-, prevocalic form of dia- + encephalon.

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