dementia
[ dih-men-shuh, -shee-uh ]
/ dɪˈmɛn ʃə, -ʃi ə /
noun Psychiatry.
severe impairment or loss of intellectual capacity and personality integration, due to the loss of or damage to neurons in the brain.
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Nearby words
demeanour, demeclocycline, dement, demented, dementedly, dementia, dementia praecox, dementia pugilistica, demento, demerara, demerge
Origin of dementia
1800–10; < Latin dēmentia madness, equivalent to dēment- out of one's mind (see dement) + -ia noun suffix
Related formsde·men·tial, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for dementia
British Dictionary definitions for dementia
dementia
/ (dɪˈmɛnʃə, -ʃɪə) /
noun
a state of serious emotional and mental deterioration, of organic or functional origin
Word Origin for dementia
C19: from Latin: madness; see dement
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for dementia
dementia
1806, from Latin dementia "madness, distraction, folly," noun of state from dementem, from dementer (see dement). It existed earlier in an anglicized form, demency (1520s), from French démence. Dementia praecox is a Modern Latin form recorded from 1899 in English, 1891 in German, from French démence précoce (1857). See precocious.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for dementia
dementia
[ dĭ-mĕn′shə ]
n.
Deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain, and often accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Science definitions for dementia
dementia
[ dĭ-mĕn′shə ]
Deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, sometimes accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes. Dementia is caused by organic damage to the brain (as in Alzheimer's disease), head trauma, metabolic disorders, or the presence of a tumor.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.