Cymbocephalic

/ˌsɪmbɔsəˈfælɪk/ adjective

Definition

Relating to or having a boat-shaped head; a rare medical or anthropological term describing cranial shape.

Etymology

From Greek kymbe (boat) + -cephalic (from kephalē, head). This compounds two Greek roots into a technical anatomical descriptor used in 19th-century physical anthropology.

Kelly Says

Early anthropologists invented tons of '-cephalic' words (dolichocephalic, brachycephalic) to measure skulls, but most are outdated now because we realized skull shape varies within populations way too much to be meaningful!

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