ˌserəˈbeləm noun
( plural cerebellums -ləmz ; or cerebel·la -lə)
Etymology: Medieval Latin, from Latin, small brain, diminutive of cerebrum brain
: a large dorsally projecting part of the brain that is concerned especially with the coordination of muscles and the maintenance of equilibrium, that is situated anterior to and above the medulla which it partly overlaps, that consists in man of two lateral lobes and a median lobe connected with the other parts of the brain by three pairs of peduncles, of which the superior connects it with the cerebrum, the middle with the pons, and the inferior with the medulla, and that has a surface exhibiting transverse sulci of varying depth consisting of gray matter and an interior consisting chiefly of white matter which branches into the laminae formed by the sulci in such a way that an anteroposterior section has a treelike appearance — see arborvitae , brain illustration