au·to·ceph·a·lous 
(ô′tə-sĕfə-ləs)
(ô′tə-sĕfə-ləs)adj.
Christianity
Christianity
Having a head bishop who is not responsible to any higher-ranking ecclesiastical authority. Used of churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion.
[From Byzantine Greek autokephalos : auto-, auto- + kephalos, head; see ghebh-el- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
auto·ceph′a·ly (-lē) n.