Broca's
|Bro-ca's|
🇺🇸
/ˈbroʊkəz/
🇬🇧
/ˈbrəʊkəz/
(Broca)
named after Broca
Etymology
'Broca' originates from French as a surname, most notably borne by the 19th-century French physician and anatomist Paul Broca (1824–1880).
'Broca' became used in English medical and scientific contexts as an eponym. The English possessive form 'Broca's' (Broca + 's) was attached to terms such as 'Broca's area' and 'Broca's aphasia', and later the possessive form itself was sometimes used alone as shorthand.
Initially a family name ('Broca'), it evolved into an eponym: originally naming a person, it came to name a brain region and a type of aphasia; the possessive form now commonly signals that eponymous relationship.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
informal shorthand referring to an eponymous brain region or disorder (e.g., 'Broca's' = 'Broca's area' or sometimes 'Broca's aphasia').
Clinicians often refer to Broca's when discussing expressive aphasia.
Synonyms
Adjective 1
of or relating to Paul Broca (used attributively in phrases such as 'Broca's area' or 'Broca's aphasia').
Broca's area is involved in speech production.
Last updated: 2025/12/04 13:35