autocephalous
/ɔːtə(ʊ)ˈsɛfələs/adjective
autocephalous is spelled A-U-T-O-C-E-P-H-A-L-O-U-S: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, autocephalous means “Fully independent of the authority of any other church” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in autocephalous?
| Letters | 13: A-U-T-O-C-E-P-H-A-L-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 134,976th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is autocephalous?
Autocephalous appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce autocephalous?
- /ɔːtə(ʊ)ˈsɛfələs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-autocephalous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of autocephalous
- more autocephalous comparative
- most autocephalous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does autocephalous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Fully independent of the authority of any other church.
- 2
Presiding over an autocephalous church.
- 3
Independent; not governed by others.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Autocephalous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (of a church) independent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | autocéphale |
| German | autokephal |
| Portuguese | autocéfalo |
| Spanish | autocéfalo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does autocephalous come from?
From Ancient Greek αὐτοκέφαλος (autoképhalos), from αὐτο- (auto-, “self-”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”). By surface analysis, auto- + -cephalous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).