The skull or the cavity of the skull that contains the brain; an archaic or poetic term.
Compound of 'brain' and 'pan' (from Old English 'panne,' meaning vessel or pan). The term treats the skull as a 'pan' that holds the brain, like a container.
This is a wonderful archaic word that shows how older English used concrete, everyday metaphors—the skull is literally like a pan holding its contents. Shakespeare and earlier writers used it, but it's nearly disappeared from modern English.
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