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Showing results for catalepsy. Search instead for catalepsis.
Synonyms

catalepsy

American  
[kat-l-ep-see] / ˈkæt lˌɛp si /
Or catalepsis

noun

Pathology, Psychiatry.

  1. a physical condition usually associated with catatonic schizophrenia, characterized by suspension of sensation, muscular rigidity, fixity of posture, and often by loss of contact with environment.

catalepsy British  
/ ˈkætəˌlɛpsɪ /

noun

  1. a state of prolonged rigid posture, occurring for example in schizophrenia or in hypnotic trances

"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

Other Word Forms

  • cataleptic adjective
  • cataleptically adverb

Etymology

Origin of catalepsy

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin catalēpsia, variant of Late Latin catalēpsis < Greek katálēpsis seizure (akin to katalambánein to hold down), equivalent to kata- cata- + lêpsis a grasping ( lēp-, variant stem of lambánein to grasp + -sis -sis ); replacing Middle English cathalempsia < Medieval Latin

Compare meaning

How does catalepsy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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.

We think now he probably suffered from catalepsy, a nervous condition that causes muscular rigidity.

From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2010

Eleanor Roosevelt's frilly white collar turned to sponge; her smile froze into catalepsy.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Sometimes our people get happy and skip around a bit," she said, "but . . . we don't have any catalepsy or epilepsy."

From Time Magazine Archive

Whelan scrapped the result, not for lack of merit, but because he decided it could only evoke ten show-stopping minutes of caterwauling and catalepsy.

From Time Magazine Archive

I became impressed with the idea that some form of catalepsy had seized and bound them in strong trance.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865 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.