phrenitis

[fri-nahy-tis]

noun Pathology. (formerly)

inflammation of the brain; encephalitis.
delirium; frenzy.

Origin of phrenitis

1615–25; < Late Latin phrenītis delirium, frenzy < Greek phrenîtis. See phren-, -itis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for phrenitis

Historical Examples of phrenitis

She was in the first stages of phrenitis, or inflammation of the brain.
A Ride With A Mad Horse In A Freight-Car
W. H. H. Murray
In pathology, a dread of air (wind); a common symptom in hydrophobia, and occasionally present in hysteria and phrenitis.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
In no malady does a horse suffer more than in phrenitis, or inflammation of the brain.
A Ride With A Mad Horse In A Freight-Car
W. H. H. Murray
And since the membranes about the wound began to be inflamed, he fell a victim to phrenitis and died not long afterwards.
Procopius
Procopius
Would any rational practitioner, in a case of phrenitis, or in the delirium of fever, order his patient to be scourged?
Observations on Madness and Melancholy
John Haslam

British Dictionary definitions for phrenitis

phrenitis

noun rare

another name for encephalitis
a state of frenzy; delirium

Derived Formsphrenitic (frɪˈnɪtɪk), adjective

Word Origin for phrenitis

C17: via Late Latin from Greek: delirium, from phrēn mind, diaphragm + -itis

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

phrenitis in Medicine

phrenitis

[frĭ-nī′tĭs]

Inflammation of the diaphragm.
Encephalitis. No longer in technical use.

Related formsphre•nit′ic (-nĭt′ĭk) adj.