Megacephalies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Conditions in which a person or animal has an unusually enlarged skull and head compared with typical proportions
2. Cases of having an abnormally big head, often linked to a genetic or developmental condition
3. Abnormal enlargement of the head, usually present from birth or early childhood and sometimes associated with other disorders

Etymology: "Megacephalies" is the plural of "megacephaly," a medical term for an abnormally large head. It is formed from the Greek "megas," meaning "large," and "kephalē," meaning "head," the same roots that give English "megalomania" and "cephalic." Because both parts are classical Greek, the word is a modern scientific coinage built from ancient building blocks, not a term the Greeks themselves used for enlarged skulls. Like many medical words of its type, it belongs to the nineteenth-century habit of naming conditions by combining Greek elements, which let physicians describe a visible feature in a precise, internationally readable way. The plural form simply reflects the usual English practice of pluralizing a countable noun: several cases, or several varieties of the condition, are "megacephalies."