Daily AncestorEncephaloid
Encephaloid, or encephaloid cancer, was a 1800s name for a soft, very malignant cancer whose tissue looked like brain matter.
Webster's 1913 defines encephaloid cancer as a very malignant form of cancer of brainlike consistency. The word means resembling the brain; it says how the tumor looked, not that it grew in the brain.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual lists encephaloid cancer among the forms of cancer, and Wiktionary marks the noun as archaic.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Mary A. Hollingbrook, 52, F, W, Apr., Encephaloid cancer of liver
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Encephaloid." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/encephaloid. Last checked 2026-10-12.