formication

[fawr-mi-key-shuhn]

noun

1. a tactile hallucination involving the belief that something is crawling on the body or under the skin.

formication

/ ˌfɔːmɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. a sensation of insects crawling on the skin; symptom of a nerve disorder

Word History and Origins

Origin of formication¹

1700–10; < Latin (Pliny) formīcātiōn-, stem of formīcātiō a sensation that ants are crawling on one's skin, equivalent to formicā ( re ) to have such a sensation (verbal derivative of formīca ant) + -tiōn- -tion

Example Sentences

Marked digital formication existed, but the arthritic pains were not so severe as in ordinary cases.

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Sensation of formication in the calves of the legs.

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Frequently there are also peculiar skin sensations, which usually approach formication in type, and these, like the pains, are apt to shift with rapidity from one part of the body to another.

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The initial indications of the disease were cutaneous itching, tingling and formication, which gave place to actual loss of cutaneous sensation, first observed in the extremities.

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But sooner or later peripheral neuritis develops, usually beginning with sensory disturbances, tingling, numbness, formication and occasionally cutaneous anaesthesia.

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