cephalic

¹ American  

[suh-fal-ik] / səˈfæl ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the head.

2. situated or directed toward the head.

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-cephalic ² American  

1. variant of -cephalous.

   brachycephalic.

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-cephalic ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating skull or head; -headed

   brachycephalic

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cephalic ² British  

/ sɪˈfælɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the head

2. situated in, on, or near the head

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cephalic Scientific  

/ sə-făl′ĭk /

1. Located on or near the head.

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Usage

What does -cephalic mean? The combining form -cephalic is used like a suffix meaning “having a head or heads.” It is often used in medical and scientific terms. The form -cephalic comes from the Greek kephalḗ, meaning “head.”The combining form -cephalic is a variant of -cephalous, as in dicephalous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -cephalous article. Corresponding forms of -cephalic combined to the beginning of words are cephalo- and cephal-, which you can learn more about in our Words That Use articles for each form. Also deriving from kephalḗ are the combining forms encephalo- and encephal-, meaning “brain.” Discover how these forms are used in our Words That Use encephalo- and encephal- articles.

Other Word Forms

• -cephaly combining form
• cephalically adverb
• postcephalic adjective
• procephalic adjective
• uncephalic adjective

Etymology

Origin of cephalic¹

1590–1600; < Latin cephalicus < Greek kephalikós of the head. See cephal-, -ic

Origin of -cephalic²

< Greek -kephal ( os ) -cephalous + -ic

Example Sentences

But the court heard that despite a 31-week scan recording the baby as completely breech, three subsequent midwife examinations recorded it as being in a head down, cephalic position.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2024

The circling motion was more relaxed: the rays were touching each other, and they weren't unfurling their cephalic fins—the horn-like appendages in front of their face—to eat.

From National Geographic • Nov. 20, 2023

There are three overlapping phases of gastric control—the cephalic phase, the gastric phase, and the intestinal phase—each requires many enzymes and is under neural control as well.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The first phase of ingestion, called the cephalic phase, is controlled by the neural response to the stimulus provided by food.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

This has to be done quickly, what I’m after now, he realized; he hurried down the hall and all at once his detection gear registered the presence of cephalic activity.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick