cephalophore

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English

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 cephalophore on Wikipedia
Saint Denis of Paris, a cephalophore (saint depicted carrying their head).

Etymology

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From Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ, head) + -φορος (-phoros, bearing), a derivative of φέρω (phérō, I bear, I carry); in the Christian sense, via French céphalophore, coined by Marcel Hébert in 1914.

Noun

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cephalophore (plural cephalophores)

  1. (Roman Catholicism) Any of a group of saints depicted in art carrying heads in their hands.
    • 1960, Gilbert Hunter Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, volume 5, page 60:
      According to William of Worcester, quite a large number of Cornish saints were cephalophores: besides S. Nectan and S. Willow, he tells us that “there were three brothers under the name of Genesius and each one carried his head.”
  2. (obsolete) Synonym of cephalopod: a mollusk of the class Cephalopoda.