Results for acephalous
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acephalous

  (ā-sĕf'ə-ləs) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Biology. Headless or lacking a clearly defined head: acephalous worms.
  2. Having no leader.

[From Medieval Latin acephalus, from Greek akephalos : a-, without; see a–1 + kephalē, head; see –cephalous.]


 
 

acephalous [a‐sef‐ăl‐ŭs], the Greek word for ‘headless’, applied to a metrical verse line that lacks the first syllable expected according to regular metre; e.g. an iambic pentameter missing the first unstressed syllable, as sometimes in Chaucer:

Twenty bookès, clad in blak or reed

Noun: acephalexis.

See also truncation.
 
Devil's Dictionary: acephalous
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


adj.

In the surprising condition of the Crusader who absently pulled at his forelock some hours after a Saracen scimitar had, unconsciously to him, passed through his neck, as related by de Joinville.


 
WordNet: acephalous
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The adjective has one meaning:

Meaning #1: (biology) lacking a head or a clearly defined head


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more

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