Skull in Malayalam
The skull is കപാലം (kapalam), a Sanskrit word that also named the begging bowl carried by ascetics, since both are rounded shells. Anatomy books and crime reports use it without hesitation. Three syllables, stress on the first.
Most common translation
Skull, cranium, begging bowl.
മ്യൂസിയത്തിൽ ഒരു പഴയ കപാലം ഉണ്ട്.
myoosiyathil oru pazhaya kapalam undu.
There is an old skull in the museum.
Dictionary entry
- കപാലം (kapalam) — Skull, cranium, begging bowl.
The begging-bowl sense survives in religious vocabulary, so the word can sound ritual rather than clinical in the wrong sentence.
Common questions
How do you say skull in Malayalam?
കപാലം (kapalam), the bone case of the head.
Why does the entry mention a bowl?
The same word was used for the skull-shaped alms bowl of wandering ascetics, a sense that still appears in temple and tantric vocabulary.