alexia

[uh-lek-see-uh]

noun

Pathology.

1. a neurologic disorder marked by loss of the ability to understand written or printed language, usually resulting from a brain lesion or a congenital defect.

alexia

/ əˈlɛksɪə /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: word blindness. a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by impaired ability to read Compare aphasia

Word History and Origins

Origin of alexia¹

1875–80; a- ⁶ + Greek léx ( is ) speech ( leg- stem of légein to speak + -sis -sis ) + -ia; altered meaning by association of -lex- with lexicon, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of alexia¹

C19: from New Latin, from _a- ¹ + Greek lexis speech; influenced in meaning by Latin legere to read

Example Sentences

Another alexia expert, Pélagie Beeson of the University of Arizona, tells me that less than 6 percent of the patients she works with suffer from pure alexia.

From Washington Post

Destruction of the visual speech centre produces visual aphasia or alexia.

From Project Gutenberg

And in the higher reaches of mental function, the same antithesis comes out in the contrast of sensory and motor aphasia, alexia, sensory and motor types of memory and imagination, etc.

From Project Gutenberg

Pure alexia, which is Mum’s diagnosis, is much more rare: She can still write and touch-type, but bizarrely, she cannot read.

From Washington Post