What is "acephalous"

Acephalous \A*ceph"a*lous\, a. [See Acephal.]

1. Headless.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Without a distinct head; -- a term applied to bivalve mollusks.

3. (Bot.) Having the style spring from the base, instead of from the apex, as is the case in certain ovaries.

4. Without a leader or chief.

5. Wanting the beginning.

   A false or acephalous structure of sentence.
   --De Quincey.

6. (Pros.) Deficient at the beginning, as a line of poetry.
   --Brande.

"headless," 1731, from French acéphale + -ous, or directly from Late Latin acephalus, from Greek akephalos, from a- "not" + kephale "head" (see cephalo-).

a. 1 headless 2 (context zoology applied to bivalve mollusks English) Without a distinct head. 3 (context botany English) Having the style spring from the base, instead of from the apex, as is the case in certain ovary 4 Without a leader or chief. 5 Wanting the beginning 6 (context prosody English) deficient in the beginning, as a line of poetry that is missing its expected opening syllable

adj. lacking a head or a clearly defined head; "acephalous worms"

Acephalous (Greek: "without a head") may refer to:

• Acephalous society
• Acephalous line
• Acephali