Acephala

See also: acephala

Translingual

Wikispecies

Etymology

New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos, “headless”). See Acephal

Proper noun

Acephala

1. (obsolete) A taxonomic class within the phylum Mollusca – the Bivalvia.
   • 1854, Philip Henry Gosse, Natural History (in English), page 57:

     Naturalists arrange the Mollusca in six classes, named Cephalopoda, Pteropoda, Gasteropoda, Conchifera, Brachiopoda, and Tunicata. Of these the first three are sometimes distinguished as Encephala, or furnished with a head; the last three as Acephala, being destitute of that organ.

2. A group or variety of Brassica oleracea, including kale and collard greens

Related terms

• Encephala

Further reading

• “Acephala”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.