epilepsy

American  

[ep-uh-lep-see] / ˈɛp əˌlɛp si /

noun

Pathology.

epilepsies plural

1. a disorder of the nervous system, characterized either by mild, episodic loss of attention or sleepiness (petit mal) or by severe convulsions with loss of consciousness (grand mal).

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epilepsy British  

/ ˈɛpɪˌlɛpsɪ /

noun

1. a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by periodic loss of consciousness with or without convulsions. In some cases it is due to brain damage but in others the cause is unknown See also grand mal petit mal

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epilepsy Scientific  

/ ĕp′ə-lĕp′sē /

1. Any of various neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures. Epilepsy is caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

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epilepsy Cultural  

1. A disorder of the brain characterized by sudden, recurring attacks of abnormal brain function, often resulting in convulsions or seizures. The seizures associated with epilepsy can sometimes be controlled by medication.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• epilepsies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of epilepsy

First recorded in 1570–80; from Old French epilepsie, from Late Latin epilēpsia, from Greek epilēpsía “epileptic seizure,” derivative of epilambánein “to take hold of, seize, attack”; see epi-, -lepsy ( def. )

Explanation

If you have epilepsy, you have a central nervous system disorder that may cause you to lose consciousness and have convulsions. The noun epilepsy comes from the Greek word epilēpsia, which itself means seizure. Not all seizures are caused by epilepsy, but an epileptic seizure occurs when a strong electrical disturbance occurs in the brain. The severity and intensity of the seizures depend on many factors and are unique to each person. It may be possible to control seizures through medication, although not everyone with epilepsy will respond to medication. People with uncontrolled epilepsy should not drive.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

epilepsy epilepsies

Rapamycin reversed abnormal patterns of gene expression involving autism, epilepsy, and ion channel function.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

Somebody who was managing this temporal lobe epilepsy, but also somebody who works in humanitarian aid field in this moment of unprecedented attacks against our aid workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

The recordings were made while patients undergoing epilepsy surgery were under general anesthesia.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026

Campos said her 44-year-old mother has asthma, her 9-year-old brother has epilepsy, and her 68-year-old grandmother is battling cancer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026

The patients included those who suffered with epilepsy, mental illness, blindness, deafness, mental disabilities, and severe physical deformities.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

But dentate gating seems to break down in temporal-lobe epilepsies affecting the hippocampus, resulting in unrestrained, synchronized firing of granule cells.

From Nature ● Jul. 8, 2014

Electrophysiology insights could guide more sophisticated monitoring of cortical epilepsies and possibly other focal epilepsies as well.

From Nature ● Jul. 8, 2014

Indeed, many epilepsies resemble a perverse imitation of normal activity for a given brain structure — and these lead to some of the distinctions between the pathology and activity associated with different epileptic disorders.

From Nature ● Jul. 8, 2014

The mechanism underlying seizures known as absence epilepsies is rather different.

From Nature ● Jul. 8, 2014

After interviews have been compassed with long foresight we must be tormented presently by baffled blows, by sudden, unseasonable apathies, by epilepsies of wit and of animal spirits, in the heyday of friendship and thought.

From Essays — First Series by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Related Words

• contraction
• cramp
• paroxysm
• seizure
• tremor