US /ˈepəlepsi/ UK /ˈepɪlepsi/
noun Freq #19810

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a neurological disorder characterized by an enduring tendency to have recurrent unprovoked seizures

    Medication allowed her to control the seizures caused by epilepsy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a neurological disorder... seizure disorder
Word family
Derived forms epileptic
Related forms seizureneurologyanticonvulsant

Etymology

Through French epilepsie and Latin epilepsia from Greek epilepsia, 'seizure,' based on epilambanein, 'to seize or take hold of.' The traditional English name falling sickness described a conspicuous effect rather than the underlying neurological disorder.

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.