encephalon
noun/ɛnˈsɛfələn/ · /ɛnˈsɛfəlɒn/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).
1
Anatomy, Medicine, Neuroanatomy, Neurology, Neuroscience, Sciences The area of central nervous system that includes all higher nervous centers, enclosed within the skull and continuous with the spinal cord; synonym of brain.
- Meronyms: prosencephalon, telencephalon, diencephalon; mesencephalon; rhombencephalon, metencephalon, myelencephalon
- Derived terms
- encephalonize, metencephalon, myelencephalon, palaeoencephalon, paleoencephalon, parencephalon, rhombencephalon, thalamencephalon
- Related terms
- anencephaly, cephalo-, encephalic, encephalitis, encephalo-, encephalomyelitis, encephalomyelopathy, encephalopathy