acephali /eɪˈsɛf.ə.laɪ/ noun3 •Bishops and certain clergymen not under regular diocesan control. •Uncommon form of acephalites •A people reported by Herodotus and Josephus to have no heads or removable heads.
Acephali noun 9 noun[plural only]9 •(historical) A group of individuals who didn't adhear to the condemnation of Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus (431 CE). •(historical) A faction comprised of people who initially refused to acknowledge the authority of the Council of Chalcedon. •(historical) A radical Monophysite sect in the era after the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE). This sect eventually split into three groups, the Anthropomorphites, Barsanuphists, and Esianists, before being absorbed by the Jacobites in the 9th century. •(historical) A 5th century faction of Eutychians who had no leader. •(historical) The followers of Severus of Antioch. •(historical) The followers of Patriarch Paul of Alexandria after his deposition, and who later aligned themselves with the Miaphysites. •(historical) A 6th century sect with no sucession of priests, who professed to uphold a valid Eucharist by baking bread with the crumbs of blessed bread baked inside it. •(no longer used) A congregation whose priest refuses alleigance to their bishop. •(no longer used, historical) A sect of the Levellers and free socagers who claimed no feudal superior but the King.
