cephalic
adjective
of or relating to the head.
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cephalic
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-cephalic
-cephalicvariant of -cephalous.
cephalic
1 American
[suh-fal-ik]
/ səˈfæl ɪk /
adjective
-
of or relating to the head.
-
situated or directed toward the head.
-cephalic
2
American
-cephalic
1
British
combining form
cephalic
2
British
/ sɪˈfælɪk /
adjective
-
of or relating to the head
-
situated in, on, or near the head
cephalic
Scientific
/ sə-făl′ĭk /
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
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Depression and loss of appetite can suppress the cephalic reflex.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The cephalic vein begins in the antebrachium and drains blood from the superficial surface of the arm into the axillary vein.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
