spasm

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /ˈspæzəm/ UK /ˈspæzəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle

A sharp spasm seized his calf in the middle of the night.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden involuntary... convulsion twitch cramp contraction paroxysm seizure

Word family

Derived forms spasmicspasmodic

Related forms spasticspasmodic

Etymology

From Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek spasmós ('a spasm, convulsion'), from spáein ('to draw, pull').

spasmus Latin spasmós Ancient Greek spáein Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# spasm

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈspæzəm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈspæzəm/

## Meanings
1. a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle

## Examples
- A sharp spasm seized his calf in the middle of the night.

## Synonyms
- convulsion
- twitch
- cramp
- contraction
- paroxysm
- seizure

## Derived Forms
- spasmic
- spasmodic

## Related Forms
- spastic
- spasmodic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spasmus
- Root: spasmós
- Root: spáein

## Etymology
From Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek spasmós ('a spasm, convulsion'), from spáein ('to draw, pull').

## AI Etymology
Spasm comes from Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek spasmós ('a spasm, convulsion'), from spáein ('to draw, pull'). The historical chain includes Latin spasmus, Ancient Greek spasmós, and Ancient Greek spáein. Older glosses in the chain include "a spasm, convulsion" and "to draw, pull", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, spasm is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle". English derivatives include spasmic and spasmodic; related forms include spastic and spasmodic. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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