cephalous

¹

[sef-uh-luhs]

adjective

1. having a head.

-cephalous

²

1. a combining form meaning “having a head or heads” of the specified sort or number.

   brachycephalous.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cephalous¹

First recorded in 1870–75; cephal- + -ous

Origin of cephalous²

< Greek -kephalos -headed, derivative of kephalḗ head; -ous

Example Sentences

Prof. Huxley applies the same principle in accounting for the remarkable, though normal, differences in the arrangement of the nervous system in the Mollusca, in his great paper on the Morphology of the Cephalous Mollusca, in 'Phil.

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From all that has been stated, I think that it is now possible to form a notion of the archetype of the Cephalous Mollusca, and I beg it to be understood that in using this term, I make no reference to any real or imaginary 'ideas' upon which animal forms are modelled.

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Having had no opportunity to make such embryological studies for himself, he fell back on numerous accounts of development by Kölliker, Van Beneden, Gegenbauer, and others, and so gradually arrived at a conception of what he called the "archetype" of the cephalous molluscs.

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As the word archetype was borrowed from old metaphysical ideas dating back to the time of Plato, he took care to state that what he meant by it was no more than a form embodying all that could be affirmed equally respecting every single kind of cephalous mollusc, and by no means an "idea" upon which it could be supposed that animal forms had been modelled.

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He shewed how the widely different groups of cephalous molluscs could be conceived as modifications of this structure, and extended the conception so as to cover all other molluscs.

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When To Use

What does -cephalous mean?

The combining form -cephalous is used like a suffix meaning “having a head or heads.” It is used in some medical and scientific terms.The form -cephalous comes from the Greek kephalḗ, meaning “head.”What are variants of -cephalous?A variant of -cephalous is -cephalic, as in monocephalic.Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -cephalic article.Corresponding forms of -cephalous 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.