catatonia

[ kat-uh-toh-nee-uh, -tohn-yuh ]

noun

, Psychiatry.

1. a syndrome seen most frequently in schizophrenia, characterized by muscular rigidity and mental stupor, sometimes alternating with great excitement and confusion.

catatonia

/ ˌkætəˈtəʊnɪə; ˌkætəˈtɒnɪk /

noun

1. a state of muscular rigidity and stupor, sometimes found in schizophrenia

Derived Forms

• catatonic, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• cata·toni·ac noun
• cat·a·ton·ic [kat-, uh, -, ton, -ik], adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of catatonia¹

First recorded in 1915–20; cata- + -tonia

Word History and Origins

Origin of catatonia¹

C20: New Latin, from German Katatonie, from cata- + -tonia, from Greek tonos tension

Example Sentences

Recently, he’s been asked to study the robot’s effect on patients with catatonia, an affliction that causes people to freeze their movements uncontrollably.

From Popular-Science

It is true that it is frequent in catatonia but is not exclusively there.

From Project Gutenberg

Taxonomic zeal began to blind vision when Kahlbaum formulated his "Catatonia" and included stupor in the symptom complex.

From Project Gutenberg

Fortunately Kahlbaum prevented serious error by leaving the prognosis of his catatonia open.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of these cases are usually called catatonia, depression, allied to manic-depressive insanity or allied to dementia prcox.

From Project Gutenberg

After weeks of neglecting his tip sheet to study catatonia, he felt close to the payoff.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• anguish
• bitterness
• despair
• discouragement
• doldrums
• foreboding
• grief
• horror
• malaise
• misery
• pessimism
• sadness
• sorrow
• weariness
• woe