encéfalo

See also: encefalo

Portuguese

Etymology

Internationalism. Learned borrowing from New Latin encephalon, from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful) /ẽˈsɛ.fa.lu/, /ĩˈsɛ.fa.lu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽˈsɛ.fɐ.lu/

• Hyphenation: en‧cé‧fa‧lo

Noun

encéfalo m (plural encéfalos)

1. (neuroanatomy) cephalon
2. (neuroanatomy) encephalon

Derived terms

• anencéfalo
• diencéfalo
• mesencéfalo
• metencéfalo
• mielencéfalo
• prosencéfalo
• protencéfalo
• rinencéfalo
• rombencéfalo
• telencéfalo

Related terms

• encefalia
• encefálico
• encefalo-

Further reading

• “encéfalo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “encéfalo”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “encéfalo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “encéfalo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Internationalism. Learned borrowing from New Latin encephalon, from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /enˈθefalo/ [ẽn̟ˈθe.fa.lo] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /enˈsefalo/ [ẽnˈse.fa.lo] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -efalo
• Syllabification: en‧cé‧fa‧lo

Noun

encéfalo m (plural encéfalos)

1. (neuroanatomy) cephalon
2. (neuroanatomy) encephalon

Related terms

• istmo del encéfalo
• tronco del encéfalo

Further reading

• “encéfalo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025