a·ceph·a·lous

(ā-sĕf′ə-ləs)

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.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

acephalous

(əˈsɛfələs)

adj

1. (Biology) biology Also: acephalic having no head or one that is reduced and indistinct, as certain insect larvae

2. having or recognizing no ruler or leader

[C18: via Medieval Latin from Greek akephalos. See a-¹, -cephalic]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•ceph•a•lous

(eɪˈsɛf ə ləs)

adj.

1. Also, a•ce•phal•ic (ˌeɪ səˈfæl ɪk) headless; lacking a distinct head.

2. without a leader or ruler.

[1725–35; < Greek aképhalos; see a-⁶, -cephalous]

acephalous

- A manuscript lacking a beginning could be called acephalous.

acephalous

[əˈsefələs] ADJ → acéfalo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

manuscript

References in classic literature

"Eaten him?" said the nightmare at his ear; and he sickened for an instant at the idea of rent, human remains absorbed and crushed into all that acephalous clockwork.

View in context

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Networks are obscure, ephemeral, clandestine, acephalous, and potentially subversive, built around nodes connected by "edges" to other nodes in a manner that produces activity without centralized control.

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Perhaps the most obvious example is the imposition of certain hierarchical forms of political organization--epitomized by the appointment of state-sanctioned "chiefs" and "Native Authorities"--amongst societies that were historically more acephalous and perhaps even more democratic in orientation (e.g.

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The Chastising is the only text in D that is not acephalous, and it retains its address to a "[r]eligiouse sustir" (fol.

An Introduction to Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Don. e. 247

The acephalous logic is seen as the most proper to understanding social life and, consequently, to framing society.

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The principal characteristic of the settlement pattern of these groups was dispersal; their sociopolitical organization was acephalous, that is, characterized by the absence of obedience to a political figure, a chief, who had the means to exercise his authority (Boccara 1999: 427).

Reflections on Araucanian/Mapuche resilience, independence, and ethnomorphosis in colonial (and present-day) Chile

They usually portray these institutions as representing particular 'stages' on the path from the presumed chaos of an acephalous society to the harmonious order of the fully developed rule of law as embodied in modern democratic states." (COHEN, 1997, p.

GREEK LAW? POSITIVITY, PROBLEMATICITY AND DECISION IN ANCIENT GREEK LEGAL EXPERIENCE/DIREITO GREGO? POSITIVIDADE, PROBLEMATICIDADE E DECISAO NA EXPERIENCIA JURIDICA GREGA ANTIGA