amnesia
[am-nee-zhuh]
- loss of a large block of interrelated memories; complete or partial loss of memory caused by brain injury, shock, etc.
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Origin of amnesia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for amnesia
Contemporary Examples
For Americans, World War I rests in a dark valley of amnesia between the glowing peaks of the Civil War and World War II.
On the negative side, the sheer tonnage of opinions can overwhelm and cause a degree of amnesia.
They were responding to that amnesia—our parents looked the other way.
But how many sleep-deprived nights are you prepared to spend in nightspots like Les Caves du Roy, Amnesia, or Billionaire?
Dr. Anand Veeravagu on the rare form of amnesia that can strike without warning.
Historical Examples
You seem remarkably clear in your mind to be afflicted with amnesia.
The White DesertCourtney Ryley Cooper
This is the breaking point, the moment when amnesia intervenes.
When Winter Comes to Main StreetGrant Martin Overton
Some kind of hysteria and amnesia hit you while we were there.
The Memory of MarsRaymond F. Jones
In a lesser degree, amnesia only affects limited periods of life.
Metapsychical PhenomenaJ. Maxwell
What idiosyncracies of the narrator were concomitant products of amnesia?
UlyssesJames Joyce
amnesia
- a defect in memory, esp one resulting from pathological cause, such as brain damage or hysteria
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Word Origin
C19: via New Latin from Greek: forgetfulness, probably from amnēstia oblivion; see amnesty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for amnesia
n.
"loss of memory," 1786 (as a Greek word in English from 1670s), Modern Latin, coined from Greek amnesia "forgetfulness," from a-, privative prefix, "not" (see a- (3)) + mimneskesthai "to recall, cause to remember," a reduplicated form related to Greek mnemnon "mindful," mneme "memory," mnasthai "to remember;" from PIE root *men- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
amnesia
(ăm-nē′zhə)- The loss or impairment of memory.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
amnesia
[ăm-nē′zhə]
- Partial or total loss of memory, usually caused by brain injury or shock.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
amnesia
[(am-nee-zhuh)]
A loss of memory, especially one brought on by some distressing or shocking experience.
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Note
A common variant is selective amnesia; the term is applied to public officials who, when questioned about alleged wrongdoing, profess that they cannot remember.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.