Anencephalic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A medical condition where a fetus develops without major portions of the brain and skull
2. A condition characterized by the absence of a major part of the brain and cranial structures in an individual during fetal development
3. This term describes an anomaly where significant portions of the brain and surrounding skull are missing in a developing fetus

Etymology: Anencephalic comes from the Greek "an-" meaning "without" and "enkephalos," meaning "brain," itself built from "en-" ("in") and "kephalē" ("head"). Put together, the term describes a condition present at birth in which a large part of the brain and skull fails to develop. The Greek roots are ancient, but the medical adjective is a modern formation, built in the scientific Latin and Greek style that doctors and naturalists favoured when they needed precise names for newly described conditions. The word's history is a plain one of technical coinage rather than a story with a famous coiner. Its structure follows a pattern used across medicine, where "an-" marks absence (as in "anaemia" and "anorexia") and "-ic" makes the noun into an adjective. The result is a label that tells a reader exactly what the condition is before any explanation is given.