synesthesia

American  

[sin-uhs-thee-zhuh, -zhee-uh, -zee-uh] / ˌsɪn əsˈθi ʒə, -ʒi ə, -zi ə /

noun

1. a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.

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synesthesia British  

/ ˌsɪniːsˈθɛtɪk, ˌsɪniːsˈθiːzɪə /

noun

1. the usual US spelling of synaesthesia

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Other Word Forms

• nonsynesthetic adjective
• synesthete noun
• synesthetic adjective

Etymology

Origin of synesthesia

First recorded in 1890–95; from New Latin; see origin at syn-, esthesia

Explanation

Synesthesia is a condition that happens when a sense, such as sight, triggers another sense, like smell, at the same time. For someone with synesthesia, each letter of the alphabet might have a different odor. Cool! Synesthesia happens when someone’s senses are blended. The word synesthesia comes from the Greek syn for “together” and the root aisthe for “to feel.” People with synesthesia often don’t realize at first that they have it — they think everyone sees the number 8 as red, for example! The writer Vladimir Nabokov writes about having synesthesia in his memoir Speak, Memory. Synesthesia is another way of perceiving the world, but it’s not a disease.

Example Sentences

A further revelation came after intermission with an even more impressive concert performance of Bartók’s “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle” that demonstrated the radical difference between theater and synesthesia.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024

You’ll notice the way synesthesia guides his pen, and you’ll pick up his themes of exile, wonder, the afterlife and the privacy and primacy of marriage.

From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2023

However, this pioneering stretchable synesthesia display shatters preconceived boundaries by offering unparalleled optical performance and precise sound pressure levels.

From Science Daily • Oct. 12, 2023

Dylan Brady and Laura Les don’t disappoint, pushing the synesthesia of their hyperpop sound to new extremes.

From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2023

It hardly seems possible that I had once wanted my synesthesia to go away.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass