A-çeph'a-loüs, a.

a. [Gr. ἀκέφαλος. See supra.]

1. Without a head; headless; as certain fetuses;—applied specifically to animals of the class or division Acephala.
2. (Bot.) Having the style spring from the base, instead of the apex, as is the case in certain ovaries.
3. Without a leader or chief. Chambers.
4. Wanting something pre-eminently essential to completeness.

A false or acephalous structure of sentence. De Quincey. 5. (Pros.) Deficient at the beginning, as a line of poetry. Brande.