paraplegia

American  

[par-uh-plee-jee-uh, -juh] / ˌpær əˈpli dʒi ə, -dʒə /

noun

Pathology.

1. paralysis of both lower limbs due to spinal disease or injury.

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paraplegia British  

/ ˌpærəˈpliːdʒə /

noun

1. pathol paralysis of the lower half of the body, usually as the result of disease or injury of the spine Compare hemiplegia quadriplegia

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paraplegia Scientific  

/ păr′ə-plē′jē-ə /

1. Paralysis of the lower part of the body, caused by injury to the spinal cord.

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Other Word Forms

• paraplegic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of paraplegia

First recorded in 1580–90; from New Latin, from Ionic Greek (Hippocrates) paraplēgíē; “hemiplegia”; see para- ¹, -plegia

Compare meaning

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

• tetraplegia vs. paraplegia
• paraplegia vs. hemiplegia

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paraplegia

By analyzing 2,811 people with ataxia, hereditary spastic paraplegia, and dystonia, scientists identified harmful variants in a gene called CD99L2 as the cause of X-linked spastic ataxia.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 13, 2026

The NHS says it is not known how many people have hereditary spastic paraplegia because it is often misdiagnosed.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

The plaintiff, Darwin Boggs, has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair when traveling in public, the suit said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

Here are the stories of a disabled woman, her father and her caretakers; a lawyer and her late mother’s physician; a woman with paraplegia and her home health aide; and a contact tracer.

From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2022

Later, there is paralysis of the spastic type, varying in extent and sometimes amounting to complete paraplegia, and this may come on gradually or quite suddenly.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander