Meanings
plural holoprosencephalies
- countableuncountablemedicineA congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain during fetal development, resulting in skull and facial deformities ranging from minor cleft lip problems to cyclopia, in which a single eye develops where the nose would normally be.
Synonyms: HPE
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain during fetal development, resulting in skull and facial deformities ranging from minor cleft lip problems to cyclopia, in which a single eye develops where the nose would normally be.
Origin
- Ancient Greekὅλος“whole”
- Englishholoprosencephaly
From Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) + πρόσω (prósō, “forwards, onwards”) (referring to the prosencephalon (“forebrain”)) + ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “brain”) + English -y (suffix denoting a condition), i.e. “condition of a whole (inappropriately divided) forebrain”. By surface analysis, holo- + pros- + encephal- + -y.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish holoprosenkefalia
- holoprosenkefaliaa congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain
Polish holoprozencefalia
- holoprozencefaliaa congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain
Portuguese holoprosencefalia, arrinencefalia
- holoprosencefaliaa congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain
- arrinencefaliaa congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with holoprosencephaly
Cite this entry
holoprosencephaly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holoprosencephaly
“holoprosencephaly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holoprosencephaly. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “holoprosencephaly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holoprosencephaly.
Source: holoprosencephaly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.