Etymology

catatonia

C3A1T1A1T1O1N1I1A1

Today it means: A severe psychiatric condition, often associated with schizophrenia, characterized by a tendency to remain in a rigid state of stupor for long periods which give way to short periods of extreme agitation. Full definition →

New Latin catatonia
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The story

  1. New Latin · borrowed fromcatatonia
  2. English todaycatatonia

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Katatonie, from New Latin catatonia, from a Greek word meaning to stretch tight. By surface analysis, cata- + tone + -ia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.