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🐉 Many-headed 👥 Many leaders 🍄 Many heads (plants)
polycephalous

polycephalous

9.9
An organization that has more than one leader sharing power
  • adjective
  • /ˌpɒlɪˈsɛfələs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : policéfalo
  • British colonial authorities, for example, felt threatened by acephalous and polycephalous movements like the Rastafari because they could not be extinguished as easily as centralized ones.
  • polycephalous movement

Examples

  • This is most notable in reformist NGOs, most of which are configured as acephalous/polycephalous networks organized around limited (as opposed to totalistic) ideologies.

    Blog text (26)

  • Ideological fissures among Islamists engendered pressure for a polycephalous armed movement with autonomous and often contradictory elements, rendering peace-making a Herculean task.

    Academic text (2001)

  • GUMs may be acephalous or polycephalous, dispersed or concentrated.

    Academic text (2008)

  • But in a factionalized, polycephalous movement, such as the jihad movement in Algeria, no single individual or group can effectively coordinate activism or speak with authority on behalf of the entire movement; and the AIS decision to end hostilities did not inexorably lead to a cessation of violence.

    Academic text (2001)

  • In a polycephalous organization, decisions are made collectively rather than by a single leader.

  • A polycephalous political movement can lead to diverse opinions and strategies among its members.

  • The committee was polycephalous, consisting of several heads who each contributed unique perspectives.

Synonyms

multipolar
vspolycephalous
  • Specialized
1 7.0

Where power is held by several countries or centers

focuses on having multiple leaders rather than just power distribution
multinuclear
vspolycephalous
7.7

Having several separate centers of control or activity

has multiple leaders and centers rather than a single authority
polyarchic
vspolycephalous
  • Formal
9.9

Many people share power in government

describes multiple leaders and centers rather than a broad many-person rule
bicephalic
vspolycephalous
  • Formal
9.9

Having two people who share control of a group or organization

covers more than two leaders rather than only a two-person leadership

How Headed

polycephalous
  • Specialized
9.9
bicephalic
  • Formal
9.9

Surface Forms

polycephalous positive

Morphology

polycephalous = cephalous (semi-transparent) = poly + cephal + ous

The structure is regular, but the organizational meaning is a metaphorical extension of 'many-headed' rather than a fully everyday reading.

Etymology

Polycephalous comes from the Greek parts poly- 'many' and kephalē 'head'. So a polycephalous organization or government is one with 'many heads' — in other words, several leaders or centers of power.