# hippocampus

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #29,309

## Definitions
1. A mythological creature with the front head and forelimbs of a horse and the rear of a fish.
2. A part of the brain located inside the temporal lobe, consisting mainly of grey matter. It is a component of the limbic system and plays a role in memory and emotion.

## Etymology
From Late Latin hippocampus, from Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ῐ̔́ππος (hĭ́ppos, “horse”) + κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)). The anatomy sense is so named from its resemblance to the seahorse. By surface analysis, hippo- + campus.

## Common misspellings (15)
`hhippocampus`, `hipocampus`, `hipopcampus`, `hippcoampus`, `hippoacmpus`, `hippocammpus`, `hippocamppus`, `hippocampsu`, `hippocampuss`, `hippocamups`, `hippocapmus`, `hippoccampus`, `hippocmapus`, `hpipocampus`, `ihppocampus`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hippocampus