Acephalous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈsÉ›fÉ™lÉ™s/

Origin

From French acéphale, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (akephalos, "headless"), from ἀ- ("not") + κεφαλή (kephalē, "head").

Full definition of acephalous

Adjective

1. Headless
2. (zoology) Without a distinct head; -- a term applied to bivalve mollusks.
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
• A false or acephalous structure of sentence. - Thomas de Quincey
6. (prosody) Deficient in the beginning, as a line of poetry that is missing its expected opening syllable - Brande

Derived terms

• acephalously