encephalon

E1N1C3E1P3H4A1L1O1N1
/ɛnˈsɛfələn//ɛnˈsɛfəlɒn/also/ɪn-/also/-ˈsɛfəlɑn/

noun

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”

Similar
brain
OriginAncient Greek ἐγκέφαλος →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounencephalon (plural encephalons or encephala)

plural encephalons · plural encephala

  1. anatomyThe 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

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthat part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord

Similar
brain
Broader
neural structure
Also see
brain

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἐγκέφαλος“within the head”
  2. Englishencephalon

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque entzefalo
  • entzefalobrain
Bulgarian мозък
  • мозък (mozăk)brain
Catalan encèfal
  • encèfalbrain
French encéphale
  • encéphalebrain
Italian encefalo
  • encefalobrain
Polish mózgowie
  • mózgowiebrain
Portuguese encéfalo
  • encéfalobrain
Romanian encefal
  • encefalbrain
Spanish encéfalo
  • encéfalobrain
Cite this entry
APA

encephalon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encephalon

MLA

“encephalon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encephalon. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “encephalon,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encephalon.

Source: encephalon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.