aphasia

[ uh-fey-zhuh ]

nounPathology.

an impairment of a previously held ability to produce or understand spoken, written, or signed language, due to disease or injury of the brain.

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Origin of aphasia

First recorded in 1865–70; from Greek: literally “speechlessness,” equivalent to a- a-⁶ + phat(ós) “spoken” (derivative of phánai “to speak”) + -ia -ia

Words Nearby aphasia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use aphasia in a sentence

Bank recovered, but she told the Guardian in 1999 that even before the accident she suffered from aphasia, experiencing intense migraines and struggling at times to express herself.
Melissa Bank, literary chronicler of love and loss, dies at 61 | Harrison Smith | August 5, 2022 | Washington Post
She is a classic “people person” who finds ways to communicate with everyone she meets despite her challenge with the language disability aphasia.
Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down Tells a Remarkable Story of Recovery | Justine Simons | July 20, 2022 | Time
If I hadn’t been shot in the head, leading to partial paralysis, aphasia, and a decade-long journey to regain the ability to walk and talk.
Gabby Giffords: The Big Lesson from Our Small Progress on Guns | Gabrielle Giffords | July 14, 2022 | Time
In addition to recovering from her physical injuries, Giffords suffered a brain injury that left her with aphasia, a language disorder that makes it harder to communicate through speech.
Gabby Giffords Remains Optimistic That the U.S. Can Fix Its Gun Violence Problem | Julia Zorthian | June 7, 2022 | TIme
That can lead to social isolation, one of the most emotionally painful potential consequences of aphasia.
What It's Like Living With Aphasia—and How to Support a Loved One With the Condition | Tara Law | March 31, 2022 | Time

Still, she suffered from aphasia, finding it difficult to speak, read and write.
A Stroke That Hits Young Women | Nicole LaPorte | July 28, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Meantime the doctor reported that my suspicion as to aphasia was right.
Chronicles of Martin Hewitt | Arthur Morrison
Paralysis was followed by aphasia, and after acute pain, followed by a long period of apathy, death relieved him in October 1745.
The Journal to Stella | Jonathan Swift
What we suffer from most,” said the spectre, when I had partly recovered from my fright, “is a kind of aphasia.
In the Wrong Paradise | Andrew Lang
All impairment of speech is called aphasia, and it is called Motor aphasia when the apparatus is damaged on the side of movement.
The Story of the Mind | James Mark Baldwin
The disease called aphasia, in which people begin by saying tea when they mean coffee, commonly ends in their silence.
A Miscellany of Men | G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for aphasia

aphasia

/ (əˈfeɪzɪə) /

noun

a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by partial or total loss of the ability to communicate, esp in speech or writing: Compare alexia

Origin of aphasia

C19: via New Latin from Greek, from a- 1 + -phasia, from phanai to speak

Derived forms of aphasia

aphasiac or aphasic, adjective, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for aphasia

aphasia

[ ə-fā′zhə ]

Partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain that is caused by injury or disease.

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