cephalophore

English

Saint Denis of Paris, a cephalophore (saint depicted carrying their head).

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”) + -φορος (-phoros, “bearing”), a derivative of φέρω (phérō, “I bear, I carry”); in the Christian sense, via French céphalophore, coined by Marcel Hébert in 1914.

Noun

cephalophore (plural cephalophores)

1. (Roman Catholicism) Any of a group of saints depicted in art carrying heads in their hands.
   • 1960, Gilbert Hunter Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, volume 5, page 60:

     According to William of Worcester, quite a large number of Cornish saints were cephalophores: besides S. Nectan and S. Willow, he tells us that “there were three brothers under the name of Genesius and each one carried his head.”

2. (obsolete) Synonym of cephalopod: a mollusk of the class Cephalopoda.