acephalous

[ey-sef-uh-luh s]

adjective

Also a·ce·phal·ic

[ey-suh-fal-ik] /ˌeɪ səˈfæl ɪk/. Zoology. headless; lacking a distinct head.

without a leader or ruler.

Origin of acephalous

1725–35; < Greek aképhalos; see a-⁶, -cephalous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for acephalous

Historical Examples of acephalous

Such is a summary description of all the Acephalous Molluscs.
The Ocean World:
Louis Figuier
Almost all bivalve shells, or those of acephalous mollusca, are marine, about ten only out of ninety genera being freshwater.
A Manual of Elementary Geology
Charles Lyell.
But in its present acephalous condition it is but a fragment of sciencea headless corpse, unfit to rank among complete sciences.
Buchanan's Journal of Man, April 1887
Various
I cannot imagine anything more manifestly made to be a tyranny than such an acephalous aristocracy.
What I Saw in America
G. K. Chesterton
He found it more 'acephalous' than ever; 'less order; less unity of purpose.'
The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3)
John Morley

British Dictionary definitions for acephalous

acephalous

adjective

having no head or one that is reduced and indistinct, as certain insect larvae

having or recognizing no ruler or leader

Word Origin for acephalous

C18: via Medieval Latin from Greek akephalos. See a- 1, -cephalic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for acephalous

adj.

"headless," 1731, from French acéphale + -ous, or directly from Late Latin acephalus, from Greek akephalos, from a- "not" + kephale "head" (see cephalo-).