anaesthesia

[an-uhs-thee-zhuh]

noun

Medicine/Medical, Pathology.

1. anesthesia.

anaesthesia

/ ˌænɪsˈθiːzɪə /

noun

1. local or general loss of bodily sensation, esp of touch, as the result of nerve damage or other abnormality

2. loss of sensation, esp of pain, induced by drugs: called general anaesthesia when consciousness is lost and local anaesthesia when only a specific area of the body is involved

3. a general dullness or lack of feeling

Other Word Forms

• anaesthetic adjective
• anaesthetist noun
• semianaesthetic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of anaesthesia¹

C19: from New Latin, from Greek anaisthēsia absence of sensation, from _an- + aisthēsis feeling

Example Sentences

The research, published in the journal Music and Medicine, offers some of the strongest evidence yet that music played during general anaesthesia can modestly but meaningfully reduce drug requirements and improve recovery.

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They are also highly sensitive to anaesthesia and so cannot be kept sedated for long, a result of their unique build -- "the heart to the brain is quite long," Mijele explained.

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She said they were carrying out operations on severely wounded patients with "minimal to hardly no anaesthesia".

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They added that the 22-year-old man extracted teeth, performed complex root canals and applied anaesthesia, drawing on information he had obtained online.

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Devices to stabilise broken bones have run out, while anaesthesia, antibiotics and fluids for wounded patients are dwindling.

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