brachycephalic

English

Alternative forms

• brachykephalic

Etymology

From brachy- +‎ cephalic, literally “short-headed”, via New Latin brachycephalus, from Ancient Greek βραχυκέφαλος (brakhuképhalos), from βραχύς (brakhús, “short”) +‎ κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: brăk'ĭ-sə-fălʹĭk, brăk'ĭ-kĕ-fălʹĭk, IPA^(key): /ˌbɹæk.ɪ.səˈfæl.ɪk/, /ˌbɹæk.ɪ.kɛˈfæl.ɪk/
• enPR: brăk'ĭ-sĕfʹə-lĭk, IPA^(key): /ˌbɹæk.ɪˈsɛf.ə.lɪk/
• Hyphenation: brach‧y‧ce‧phal‧ic, brach‧y‧ceph‧a‧lic

Adjective

brachycephalic (comparative more brachycephalic, superlative most brachycephalic)

1. (anatomy, of a person or animal) Having a head that is short from front to back (relative to its width from left to right); having a broad skull with a cephalic index over 80.

   Synonyms: brachycephalous, brachycranial, brachycranic, brachykephalous, broad-headed, roundheaded, short-headed

   Antonyms: dolichocephalic, dolichocephalous, long-headed

   Coordinate terms: mesaticephalic, mesocephalic, mesocranial

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "Round-headed," he muttered. "Brachycephalic, gray-eyed, black-haired, with suggestion of the negroid. Celtic, I presume?"

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 153:

     Just how cosmopolitan the town was is clear from the fact that two different races are found buried in the graves: the dolichocephalic Eurafrican, and the brachycephalic Proto-Mediterranean.

   • 1996, William H. Tucker, The Science and Politics of Racial Research‎^[1], University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 23:

     Also a subject of extensive investigation was the cephalic index, a measurement of the general shape of the skull, defined as the ratio of its breadth to its length multiplied by one hundred to eliminate the decimal point. Ratios below seventy-five indicated skulls that were long and narrow, termed “dolichocephalic”; those between seventy-five and eight, slightly broader or “mesocephalic”; and even rounder heads with ratios above eighty were called “brachycephalic.”

Translations

having a head that is short from front to back

• Finnish: lyhytkalloinen
• Portuguese: braquicéfalo, braquicefálico
• Tagalog: punggok-uluhin

Noun

brachycephalic (plural brachycephalics or brachycephali)

1. A brachycephalic person or creature; someone with a short, broad skull, typically indicated by a cephalic index over 80.

Derived terms

• brachy

Related terms

• brachycephali
• brachycephalism
• brachycephalous
• brachycephaly

 

Further reading

• “brachycephalic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “brachycephalic”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “brachycephalic, a.”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC, page 652, column 3.
• “brachycephalic, a.”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “brachycephalic, a.”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 652, column 3.