Cephalophyma

/ˌsɛfəloʊˈfaɪmə/ noun

Definition

A tumor or swelling of the head or brain tissue.

Etymology

From Greek 'kephale' (head) + '-phyma' (a growth or tumor, from 'phyein' meaning to grow). Medical term combining head anatomy with pathology vocabulary to describe abnormal growths in cranial regions.

Kelly Says

Before modern imaging like MRI, doctors had to name diseases based only on what they could observe externally—'cephalophyma' is a relic of that era, a catch-all term for 'something's growing on your head and we're not entirely sure what it is.'

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