encephalon
/ɛnˈsɛfələn/
"encephalon" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“encephalon” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The area of central nervous system that includes all higher nervous centers, enclosed within the skull and continuous with the spinal cord; synonym of brain.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | encephalon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɛnˈsɛfələn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “encephalon” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for encephalon is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɛnˈsɛfələn/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The area of central nervous system that includes all higher nervous centers, enclosed within the skull and continuous with the spinal cord; synonym of brain.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for encephalon, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”). The correct English form is encephalon, spelled E-N-C-E-P-H-A-L-O-N.
Definition
- 1The area of central nervous system that includes all higher nervous centers, enclosed within the skull and continuous with the spinal cord; synonym of brain.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “within the head”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “encephalon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-N-C-E-P-H-A-L-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɛnˈsɛfələn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.