encephalogram

[ en-sef-uh-luh-gram ]

noun

, Medicine/Medical.

1. an x-ray of the brain, usually involving replacement of some cerebrospinal fluid by air or other gas that circulates to the brain's ventricular spaces and acts as a contrast medium.

encephalogram

/ ɛnˈsɛfələˌɡræm /

noun

1. an X-ray photograph of the brain, esp one (a pneumoencephalogram ) taken after replacing some of the cerebrospinal fluid with air or oxygen so that the brain cavities show clearly
2. short for electroencephalogram

Word History and Origins

Origin of encephalogram¹

First recorded in 1925–30; encephalo- + -gram ¹

Example Sentences

But it’s something else, too: a weave of thousands of filament-fine lines, as energy-charged as an encephalogram.

From New York Times

All the printed lines of the graph paper, for example, have, for no given reason, been traced over, freehand, in pencil, firmly here, shakily there, so that a common emblem of geometric exactitude has become personalized, like the lines of an encephalogram.

From New York Times

Handwriting is civilization's casual encephalogram.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are gruesome details of an encephalogram being taken on the girl in search of some physical origin for her symptoms; there are also scenes showing her genitals being maimed with a crucifix, copious vomiting, a cacophony of obscenities and miscellaneous bestiality.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is criminal that this boy could have seen a psychiatrist and not have had basic tests done, such as an encephalogram, which could have spotted the cause of his suffering and led to control of his antisocial behavior.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• radioactivity
• Roentgen rays
• Röntgen rays