acephalous
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French acéphale, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (akephalos, “headless”), from ἀ- (“not”) + κεφαλή (kephalē, “head”).
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /əˈsɛfələs/
Adjective [edit]
acephalous (comparative more acephalous, superlative most acephalous)
- Headless
- (zoology) Without a distinct head; -- a term applied to bivalve mollusks.
- (botany) Having the style spring from the base, instead of from the apex, as is the case in certain ovaries
- Without a leader or chief.
- Wanting the beginning
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- A false or acephalous structure of sentence. - Thomas de Quincey
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- (prosody) Deficient in the beginning, as a line of poetry that is missing its expected opening syllable - Brande