1753, "the receptacle of a flower," Modern Latin, from Latin thalamus "inner chamber," from Greek thalamos "inner chamber, bedroom," related to thalame "den, lair," tholos "vault, vaulted building." Used since 1756 of a part of the forebrain where a nerve appears to originate.
thalamus thal·a·mus (thāl'ə-məs)
n. pl. thal·a·mi (-mī')
A large ovoid mass of gray matter that forms the larger dorsal subdivision of the diencephalon and is located medial to the internal capsule and to the body and tail of the caudate nucleus. It functions in the relay of sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex.
either of a pair of large, ovoid organs that form most of the lateral walls of the third ventricle of the brain. The thalamus translates neural impulses from various receptors to the cerebral cortex, where they are experienced as the appropriate sensations of touch, pain, or temperature, during the waking state, and it regulates synaptic transmissions (i.e., incoming impulses) during resting states.