acephalus

English

Etymology

From Latin acephalus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪˈsɛfələs/

Noun

acephalus (countable and uncountable, plural acephali)

1. (medicine, countable) A fetus affected by acephaly.
2. (medicine, uncountable) The condition of acephaly.

Derived terms

• acardiacus acephalus

Related terms

• acephali
• acephalous

Latin

Alternative forms

• acephalos

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos, “headless”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aˈke.pʰa.lus/, [äˈkɛpʰäɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈt͡ʃe.fa.lus/, [äˈt͡ʃɛːfälus]

Adjective

acephalus (feminine acephala, neuter acephalum); first/second-declension adjective

1. Without a head, chief or leader.
2. Of a hexameter which begins with a short syllable.
3. Acephalite; pertaining to a Monophysite heresy.
   • c. 703, Bede, Chronica Minor:

     Hoc tempore eadem acephalorum heresis sub anathemate condemnatur.

     At the same time [as the reign of Justinian, son of Heraclius], the headless ones' heresy was condemned with anathema.

4. (Medieval Latin) Heathen.
5. (Medieval Latin, of a bishop) Without a fixed diocese.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	acephalus	acephala	acephalum		acephalī	acephalae	acephala
Genitive	acephalī	acephalae	acephalī		acephalōrum	acephalārum	acephalōrum
Dative	acephalō		acephalō		acephalīs
Accusative	acephalum	acephalam	acephalum		acephalōs	acephalās	acephala
Ablative	acephalō	acephalā	acephalō		acephalīs
Vocative	acephale	acephala	acephalum		acephalī	acephalae	acephala

Descendants

• → English: acephalous
• → Middle French: acephale
  • French: acéphale
• → Portuguese: acéfalo
• → Spanish: acéfalo

References

• “acephalus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• acephalus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “acephalus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill

Further reading

• Paulicianism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia