# skull
## English

Picture dictionary :
head
skull
brain
eye
lip
nose
mouth
chin
jaw
ear
temple
neck :

### Etymology 1

From Middle English sculle, scolle (also schulle, scholle), probably from a dialectal form of Old Norse skalli (“bald head, skull”), itself probably related to Old English sċealu (“husk”). Compare Scots scull, Danish skal (“skull”) and skalle (“bald head, skull”), Norwegian skalle, Swedish skalle and especially dialectal Swedish skulle.
Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse skoltr, skolptr (“muzzle, snout”), akin to Icelandic skoltur (“jaw”), dialectal Swedish skult, skulle (“dome, crown of the head, skull”), Middle Dutch scolle, scholle, Middle Low German scholle, schulle (“clod, sod”), and Scots skult, skolt. Compare also Old High German sciula, skiula (“skull”).

#### Alternative forms

* scull (obsolete)

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: skŭl, IPA: /skʌl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: scull
* Rhymes: -ʌl

#### Noun

skull (plural skulls)
* (anatomy) The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial bones, and mandible.
** 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:He was about to roar when, lying among the black sticks and straw under the cliff, he saw a whole skull—perhaps a cow's skull, a skull, perhaps, with the teeth in it. Sobbing, but absent-mindedly, he ran farther and farther away until he held the skull in his arms.
* These bones as a symbol for death; death's-head.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Prologue:Thine are these orbs of light and shade; ⁠Thou madest Life in man and brute; ⁠Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made.
* (figuratively) The mind or brain.
** 2006, Bart Yates, The Brothers Bishop:My thoughts are flying around in my skull like fireflies in a jar, but all of a sudden I'm unbearably tired and can't stay awake.
* A crust formed on the ladle, etc. by the partial cooling of molten metal.
* The crown of the headpiece in armour.
* (Scotland) A shallow bow-handled basket.

##### Synonyms

* brainpan
* harnpan

##### Hypernyms

* bone
* head

##### Meronyms

* Thesaurus:skull

##### Coordinate terms

* cranium

##### Derived terms

* Beauchene skull
* cloverleaf skull
* crumbling skull rule
* exploded skull
* get it through one's skull
* get through one's thick skull
* hot-skull
* numbskull
* numskull
* out of one's skull
* pseudo-skull
* skull and bones
* skull and crossbones
* skull base disease
* skullbone
* skullcap
* skull-collecting ant
* skullcup
* skull drum
* skullet
* skullfish
* skull-fuck
* skullish
* skulllike
* skull-like
* skull-measurer
* skull-pan
* skullscape
* skull session
* skull-thatcher
* Skull Valley
* skully
* sugar skull
* thickskull
* thin skull rule
* whip some skull on

##### Translations

Adyghe: шъхьэкъупшъхь (ŝḥɛqʷupŝḥ)
Afrikaans: skedel (af)
Ainu: オナシ (onasi)
Albanian: kafkë (sq)
Amharic: ጭንቅላት (č̣ənḳəlat), የራስ ቅል (yäras ḳəl)
Arabic: جُمْجُمَة f (jumjuma)
Egyptian Arabic: جمجمة f (gimgima)
Aragonese: cranio m
Aramaic:
Hebrew: גולגלתא (qarqap̄ṯā)
Armenian: գանգ (hy) (gang)
Aromanian: cafcã, cãpitsãnã, craniu, cafcalã, cãrãfetã, cocã
Assamese: লাওখোলা n (laükhüla)
Asturian: craniu (ast) m
Avar: гвангвара (gʷangʷara)
Aymara: amay pekge
Azerbaijani: kəllə (az)
Bashkir: баш һөйәге (baş höyəge)
Basque: burezur
Bau Bidayuh: tikuruok
Belarusian: чэ́рап m (čérap)
Bengali: করোটি (bn) (korōṭi)
Breton: klopenn (br) f
Bube: mötyuèkököra
Bulgarian: че́реп (bg) m (čérep)
Burmese: ဦးခွံ (my) (u:hkwam)
Catalan: crani (ca) m
Cebuano: bagolbagol, kalabera
Central Melanau: abekulou
Cherokee: ᎤᏍᎦ (usga)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 腦殼 / 脑壳 (nou$^5$ hok$^3$)
Hakka: 腦殼 / 脑壳 (nó-hok)
Hokkien: 頭蓋骨 / 头盖骨 (thâu-khak-kut), 頭殼碗 / 头壳碗 (zh-min-nan) (thâu-khak-óaⁿ)
Mandarin: 頭骨 / 头骨 (zh) (tóugǔ), 頭蓋骨 / 头盖骨 (zh) (tóugàigǔ), 顱骨 / 颅骨 (zh) (lúgǔ), (informal) 腦殼 / 脑壳 (zh) (nǎoké)
Classical Nahuatl: tzontecomatl
Classical Syriac: ܩܪܩܦܬܐ f (qarqap̄ṯā)
Czech: lebka (cs) f
Danish: kranium n, kranie n
Dhivehi: ބޮލުގެ ނާށިގަނޑު (boluge nāṣigaⁿḍu)
Dutch: schedel (nl) m, doodshoofd (nl) n, doodskop (nl) m, cranium n
Egyptian: (ḏnnt f)
Esperanto: kranio
Estonian: kolju, pealuu, kolp
Farefare: zuwaŋrɛ
Faroese: skøltur m, heysur m, skalli m, (on sheep) skróvbein n
Finnish: kallo (fi), pääkallo (fi)
French: crâne (fr) m
Friulian: crepe m
Galician: cranio (gl) m, caveira (gl) f
Georgian: თავის ქალა (tavis kala), ქალა (ka) (kala)
German: Schädel (de) m, Kranium (de) n
Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹 f (ƕairnei)
Greek: κρανίο (el) n (kranío)
Ancient: κρανίον n (kraníon)
Greenlandic: qaratserfik
Guaraní: akã kangue
Gujarati: ખોપરી f (khoprī)
Haitian Creole: zo tèt
Hausa: kwanyar
Hawaiian: iwi poʻo
Hebrew: גולגולת \ גֻּלְגֹּלֶת (he) f (gulgólet)
Hiligaynon: bagol
Hindi: कपाल (hi) f (kapāl)
Hungarian: koponya (hu)
Icelandic: höfuðkúpa (is), hauskúpa (is) f
Ido: kranio (io)
Igbo: okpukpo isi
Indonesian: tengkorak (id), jumjumah (id), batok kepala (id)
Ingrian: pääluu
Interlingua: cranio
Irish: blaosc f, cloigeann (ga) m, blaosc an chinn f, blaosc an chloiginn f
Italian: cranio (it) m, teschio (it) m
Japanese: 頭蓋骨 (ja) (ずがいこつ, zugaikotsu), 頭骨 (ja) (とうこつ, tōkotsu)
Javanese: tengkorak
Kabuverdianu:
ALUPEC: kraniu m
Badiu: kraniu m
Kabyle: abbaɣ
Kalmyk: һавл (ğavl)
Kannada: ತಲೆಬುರುಡೆ (kn) (taleburuḍe)
Kazakh: бас сүйек (bas süiek)
Khiamniungan Naga: khēukīng
Khmer: លលាដ៍ក្បាល (lɔliə kbaal), សិរកបាល (seʼ kɑɑ baal)
Kinaray-a: bagol
Komi-Permyak: юр лы (jur ly)
Korean: 두개골(頭蓋骨) (ko) (dugaegol)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کاپۆڵ (kapoll)
Northern Kurdish: kilox (ku) m
Kyrgyz: баш сөөгү (baş söögü), баш сөөк (baş söök)
Lak: бакӏрал ттаркӏ (bakʼral t:arkʼ)
Lao: ກະໂຫລກ (ka lō ka), ກະລາ (ka lā), ກະໂຫຼກ (ka lōk)
Latgalian: čereps
Latin: calvāria f, calva f, (Late) crānium n
Latvian: galvaskauss (lv) m, miroņgalva f (of a dead person)
Lezgi: келле (kelle)
Limburgish: sjeiel m
Lingala: ebɛbɛlɛ class 7/8
Lithuanian: kaukolė f
Lü: ᦡᦳᧅᧈᦷᦠ (ḋuk¹ḣo)
Luxembourgish: Hirschuel, Schiedel
Macedonian: череп m (čerep)
Malagasy: karandoha (mg)
Malay: tengkorak (ms), batok kepala, jumjumah
Malayalam: തലയോട്ടി (talayōṭṭi)
Maltese: kranju m, qorriegħa f
Maori: angaanga, papa angaanga, pareho, korotū, pārihirihi
Marathi: कवटी (kavṭī)
Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
Mon: ဂၞာက္ဍဟ်
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: гавал (mn) (gaval)
Mongolian: ᠭᠠᠪᠠᠯᠠ (ɣabala)
Nahuatl: tzontecomatl (nah)
Nepali: खप्पर (ne) (khappar)
Norman: cranne f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: skalle (no) m, skolt m, hjerneskalle m, hodeskalle (no) m
Nynorsk: hovudskalle m, skult m
Occitan: cran (oc) m
Odia: ମୁଣ୍ଡଖପୁରି (muṇḍakhapuri), ଖପୁରି (or) (khapuri)
Ojibwe: (my skull) nishtigwaanigegan
Old English: hēafodpanne f, hēafodbān n
Old Galician-Portuguese: caaveira f
Ossetian: сӕргӕхц (særgæxc)
Pali:
Mon: သဳသကပလ (sīsakapala)
Pangasinan: lapislapis
Pannonian Rusyn: лопов m (lopov), лоповик m (lopovik)
Pashto: کوپړۍ f (kopṛᶕy)
Persian:
Dari: جُمْجُمَه (jumjuma)
Iranian Persian: جُمْجُمِه (jomjome), کاسِهٔ سَر (kâse-ye sar), کاسِه‌خانِهٔ سَر (kâse-xâne-ye sar)
Plautdietsch: Schädel m
Polish: czaszka (pl) f
Portuguese: crânio (pt) m, caveira (pt) f
Punjabi: ਖੋਪਰੀ f (khoprī)
Quechua: uma tullu
Romanian: craniu (ro) n, țeastă (ro), căpățână (ro) f
Romansch: chavazza f
Russian: че́реп (ru) m (čérep)
Samogitian: kramė f
Sanskrit: कपाल (sa) m or n (kapāla)
Santali: ᱠᱷᱟᱯᱨᱤ (khapri)
Sardinian: cràniu m
Scottish Gaelic: claigeann m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: лу̀бања f, ло̀бања f
Roman: lùbanja (sh) f, lòbanja f
Shona: dehenya
Sicilian: crozza (scn) f, cucuzzuni f
Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
Sinhalese: ඔලුව (si) (oluwa), තට්ටය (taṭṭaya)
Slovak: lebka (sk) f
Slovene: lobanja (sl) f
Somali: lafmadax f
Spanish: cráneo (es) m (1), calavera (es) f (2)
Swahili: fuvu la kichwa
Swedish: skalle (sv) c, kranium (sv) n, kranie n
Tagalog: bungo (tl)
Tahitian: ʻapuroro
Tajik: косаи сар (kosa-yi sar), косахонаи сар (kosaxona-yi sar), ҷумҷума (jumjuma)
Tamil: தலையோடு (ta) (talaiyōṭu)
Taos: pʼìtąmúluną
Tarifit: aqešqaš m
Tatar: баш сөяге (tt) (baş söyage)
Telugu: కపాలము (te) (kapālamu), పుర్రె (te) (purre)
Thai: กะโหลก (th) (gà-lòok)
Tibetan: ཀ་པ་ལ (ka pa la)
Tigrinya: ሽክና ርእሲ (šəkna rəʾsi), ሓምሓም ርእሲ (ḥamḥam rəʾsi)
Turkish: kafatası (tr), baş çanağı (tr), baş kâsesi
Turkmen: kelleçanak
Tày: búc bẩu
Tyap: a̱gyigyiek-a̱pyia̱ (kcg)
Ukrainian: че́реп m (čérep)
Urdu: کَپال f (kapāl), کاسَۂ سَر m (kāsa-yi sar)
Uyghur: باش سۆڭىكى (bash sö'ngiki)
Uzbek: bosh suyagi
Vietnamese: sọ (vi), đầu lâu
Volapük: kran (vo)
Walloon: cråne (wa)
Waray-Waray: bungo
Welsh: penglog (cy) f, siol f
West Coast Bajau: bengkurung
West Flemish: dutsekop n, schedel m
West Frisian: plasse (fy) c
White Hmong: pob txha tab hau
Wolof: kaaŋ mi
Xhosa: ukhakayi
Yámana: taša
Yiddish: שאַרבן m (sharbn)
Yoruba: egungun agbárí
Yucatec Maya: tseekʼ
Zhuang: ndokgyaeuj
Zulu: ugebhezi :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### See also
#### Verb

skull (third-person singular simple present skulls, present participle skulling, simple past and past participle skulled)
* To hit in the head with a fist, a weapon, or a thrown object.
* (transitive, golf) To strike the top of (the ball).
** 2002, Robert C. Knox, Golf Balls Are Female, page 148:Monte swung so hard at the next ball that he skulled it straight right, into the pond: 8 in, 9 out.
* To drink everything that remains in a glass by upending it.
** 2016, Karen Nolan, The Y Necklace:She nearly skulled the next drink and, despite feeling a little woozy, she felt a lot better.
** 2021, Mary Fifield, Kristin Thiel, Fire & Water:That was at Jessica Eyre's sixteenth, and while nothing terrible had happened (I had skulled four Lemon Ruskis and fallen asleep in the garden), it was agreed by all that I had embarrassed myself.
** 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 337:He lifted his pint to skull what was left, but suddenly the whole thing— the smell of smoke and spilled beer, the flat Glasgow voices, the chiming of the cash register, the clatter of glasses— was somehow too much.
** 2022, Lena Moore ·, Coveted:He skulled his drink, set the glass down, then grabbed the bottle and ambled over to the other couch.

#### References

* ↑ “skull”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

### Etymology 2

See school (“a multitude”).

#### Noun

skull (plural skulls)
* Obsolete form of school (“a multitude”).
** 1586, William Warner, Albion’s England:A knavish skull of boys and girls did pelt at him.
** 1601, Philemon Holland (translator), Pliny the Elder (author), The Historie of the World. Commonly called, The Natvrall Historie of C. Plinivs Secvndvs., book IX, chapter xv: “Of the names and natures of many fishes.”:
    These fishs, togither with the old Tunies and the young, called Pelamides, enter in great flotes and skulls, into the sea Pontus, for the sweet food that they there find: and every companie of them hath their fever all leaders and captaines; and before them all, the Maquerels lead the way; which, while they be in the water, have a colour of brimstone; but without, like they be to the rest.

#### References

* ↑ “skull”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* Kulls

## Swedish
### Etymology

An alternative form of skuld (“debt”), from Old Norse skuld, from Proto-Germanic *skuldiz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéltis. Compare gälla and gälda.
Used to indicate for whom or why something is done.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skɵlː/

### Noun

skull c
* sake
    Jag är glad för din skullI'm happy for you (for your sake)
    Jag gjorde det för din skullI did it for you (for your sake)
    för gamla tiders skullfor old times' sake
    Han dog för sin övertygelses skullHe died for the sake of his convictions
    Hon gjorde det för rättvisans skullShe did it for the sake of justice
    Jag gjorde ett litet misstag, men för den skull behöver du inte bli elakI made a small mistake, but that doesn't mean you have to be mean ("but for that sake ((just) because of that) you don't have to be mean" – "för den skull" can be considered an idiomatic phrase)
    Gränssnittet är enkelt utan att för den skull vara begränsatThe interface is simple without (despite being simple) being limited ("The interface is simple without for that sake (without, because of that) being limited")
    För edra hjärtans hårdhets skull tillstadde Moses eder att skiljas från edra hustrur (archaic language)Moses because of the hardness of your hearts (for the sake of the hardness of your hearts) suffered you to put away your wives (Matthew 19:8)

#### Related terms

* skuld
* skyld
* skylla

### References

* skull in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* skull in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* skull in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* kulls