Encephala

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The collective term for the brains of vertebrates ; used especially in reference to the anatomical structures housed within the skulls of animals with backbones
2. Referring to the combined or total brains found among members of the vertebrate subphylum ; denoting the entirety of cranial nervous tissue in such animals
3. Pertaining to all brains within vertebrate species as a group ; signifying the brain organs of animals featuring spinal columns

Etymology: "Encephala" is the plural of "encephalon," the learned term for the brain as a whole. The singular comes straight from Ancient Greek "enkephalos," built from "en," meaning "in," and "kephalē," meaning "head." Put together, the name simply says "within the head," a description of exactly where the organ sits. Greek physicians and writers did use "enkephalos" for the brain, so the word is not a modern invention. English speakers later borrowed it directly as a technical term, and it kept its Greek form rather than being absorbed into everyday vocabulary. Because the head is also "kephalē" in words like "cephalic" and "cephalopod," the same root runs through a whole family of anatomical and zoological terms. The plural "encephala" follows the Greek neuter pattern, where "-on" singulars become "-a" plurals, which is why it appears in scientific writing for the brains of several animals at once.

Synonyms: brain