acephalia

9.9

A lack of a head in an animal or human before birth

noun
/ˌeɪsəˈfeɪliə/

Specialized

: acefalia

The rare condition known as acephalia results in the total absence of a head in the developing embryo.

Examples

The pathology report identified acephalia as the cause of the severe congenital deformity.
Some parasitic organisms display acephalia as part of their abnormal development.
The rare condition known as acephalia affects some species of fish.
Some researchers are studying acephalia in amphibians.
The pathology report identified acephalia as the cause of the severe congenital deformity.
The rare condition known as acephalia results in the total absence of a head in the developing embryo.
Some parasitic organisms display acephalia as part of their abnormal development.

Synonyms

acephaly

vsacephalia

Specialized

9.9

A condition present at birth when a baby or animal has no head

is the same idea phrased as the absence of a head

acephalism

vsacephalia

Specialized

9.9

A birth defect in which an animal or person has no head

is the same sense but framed as a condition rather than a label

Surface Forms

acephalia singular

acephalias plural

Morphology

acephalia = acephaly (semi-transparent) = a + cephal + ia

Formed from the privative 'a-' + medical combining form 'cephal-' (head) and the noun-forming suffix '-ia'; the Greek combining form and technical suffix make it less obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Acephalia comes from Greek parts a- meaning 'without' and kephale meaning 'head'. So it literally means 'no head', which is why the word is used for the complete absence of a head in a developing embryo or animal.