falling sickness

American  

noun

1. epilepsy.

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falling sickness British  

noun

1. a former name (nontechnical) for epilepsy

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Etymology

Origin of falling sickness

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

falling sickness

Seizures before the spinning potter's wheel were taken as a sign of "the falling sickness," the Roman name for epilepsy.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are some which Hippocrates compared to the falling sickness, and Scioppius doubtless only made pretence of envying the sparrows in order to be agreeably playful in a learned and far from playful work.

From Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil by E.M. Huggard

The water is under the tutelage of the Saint, and to this day held to be extremely beneficial in the falling sickness.

From Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing by George Barton Cutten

Epileptic or falling sickness fits, as they are sometimes denominated, are another very common scourge of secret vice.

From The Young Man's Guide by William A. (William Andrus) Alcott

Epilepsy, the "falling sickness," is a most difficult malady to treat even in an institution for that purpose, and it is impossible to treat it anywhere else.

From How To Write Special Feature Articles A Handbook for Reporters, Correspondents and Free-Lance Writers Who Desire to Contribute to Popular Magazines and Magazine Sections of Newspapers by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer