acephalous

English

Etymology

From French acéphale, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos, “headless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”). Synchronically, a- +‎ -cephalous.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /əˈsɛfələs/

Adjective

acephalous (comparative more acephalous, superlative most acephalous)

  1. Headless
  2. (zoology, applied to bivalve mollusks) Without a distinct head.
  3. (botany) Having the style spring from the base, instead of from the apex, as is the case in certain ovaries
  4. Without a leader or chief.
  5. Wanting the beginning
    • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas de Quincey
      A false or acephalous structure of sentence.
  6. (prosody) Deficient in the beginning, as a line of poetry that is missing its expected opening syllable
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Brande to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations
headless — see headless
without a leader or chief — see leaderless
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