dementia praecox
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of dementia praecox
First recorded in 1895–1900; from New Latin: “precocious dementia”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Aged 57, this man was diagnosed dementia praecox, paranoid, onset “more than 10 years ago.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 27, 2015
Their collection contains brain, heart, liver and spleen tissues from about 1,400 autopsies, 95 of which are labeled "dementia praecox," an antiquated diagnosis similar to schizophrenia.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 9, 2012
The news: Dr. Charles H. Mayo's statement that dementia praecox can be relieved by a drug.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
That was in 1915, and only three years later, at Boston Psychopathic Hospital, the young Dr. Menninger found that "dementia praecox" had already gone out of fashion; the new label was "schizophrenia."
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
He is now an unmarried man of thirty-three, and although he was diagnosed dementia praecox ten years ago is now earning $1200 year as a stenographer in the government service.
From The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 10 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.