dyslexia

D2Y4S1L1E1X8I1A1
/(ˌ)dɪsˈlɛk.si.ə/

noun

A learning disability characterized by reading and writing difficulties.

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 19

Meanings

noundyslexia (countable and uncountable, plural dyslexias)

plural dyslexias

  1. countableuncountablemedicineA learning disability characterized by reading and writing difficulties.

    Synonyms: word-blindness

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA learning disability characterized by reading and writing difficulties.

Opposite

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*leg-“to collect, gather; to speak”
  2. Ancient Greekλέγω“to speak”
  3. Ancient Greekδυσ-
  4. GermanDyslexie
  5. Frenchdyslexie
  6. Englishdyslexia

Learned borrowing from French dyslexie and/or German Dyslexie, coined by German ophthalmologist Rudolf Berlin in 1887, from dys- + lexis + -ia, from Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-) + λέξις (léxis, “diction”, “word”), from Ancient Greek λέγω (légō, “to speak”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather; to speak”). The term was coined with λέξις (léxis) being taken to mean "reading," likely due to semantic conflation of Greek λέγω (légō, “to speak”) and Latin legō (“to read”). By surface analysis, dys- + lex(is) + -ia.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans disleksie
  • disleksielearning disability
Arabic عُسْرُ ٱلْقِرَاءَة
  • عُسْرُ ٱلْقِرَاءَة (ʕusru l-qirāʔa)learning disability
Basque dislexia
  • dislexialearning disability
Catalan dislèxia
  • dislèxialearning disability
Chinese Mandarin 失讀症 /失读症, 閱讀障礙 /阅读障碍
  • 失讀症 /失读症 (shīdúzhèng)learning disability
  • 閱讀障礙 /阅读障碍 (yuèdú zhàng'ài)learning disability
Czech dyslexie
  • dyslexielearning disability
Danish ordblindhed, dysleksi
  • ordblindhedlearning disability
  • dysleksilearning disability
Dutch dyslexie
  • dyslexielearning disability
Esperanto disleksio
  • disleksiolearning disability
Estonian düsleksia, vaeglugemine
  • düsleksialearning disability
  • vaeglugeminelearning disability
Finnish lukivaikeus, dysleksia
  • lukivaikeuslearning disability
  • dysleksialearning disability
French dyslexie
  • dyslexielearning disability
German Legasthenie, Dyslexie
  • Legasthenielearning disability
  • Dyslexielearning disability
Greek δυσλεξία
  • δυσλεξία (dyslexía)learning disability
Hebrew דִּיסְלֶקְצִיָּה
  • דִּיסְלֶקְצִיָּה (disléktsya)learning disability
Hungarian diszlexia
  • diszlexialearning disability
Icelandic lesblinda
  • lesblindalearning disability
Indonesian disleksia
  • disleksialearning disability
Irish disléicse
  • disléicselearning disability
Italian dislessia
  • dislessialearning disability
Japanese 失読症, ディスレクシア
  • 失読症 (shitsudokushō)learning disability
  • ディスレクシア (disurekushia)learning disability
Korean 난독증
  • 난독증 (nandokjeung)learning disability
Latin dyslexia
  • dyslexialearning disability
Latvian disleksija
  • disleksijalearning disability
Malay disleksia
  • disleksialearning disability
Māori tīpaopao kupu
  • tīpaopao kupulearning disability
Norwegian Bokmål dysleksi
  • dysleksilearning disability
Polish dysleksja
  • dysleksjalearning disability
Portuguese dislexia
  • dislexialearning disability
Punjabi ਡਿਸਲੇਕਸੀਆ
  • ਡਿਸਲੇਕਸੀਆ (ḍislekasīā)learning disability
Romanian dislexie
  • dislexielearning disability
Russian дислекси́я
  • дислекси́я (disleksíja)learning disability
Scottish Gaelic doille-fhaclan
  • doille-fhaclanlearning disability
Slovak dyslexia
  • dyslexialearning disability
Spanish dislexia
  • dislexialearning disability
Swedish dyslexi, ordblindhet
  • dyslexilearning disability
  • ordblindhetlearning disability
Tamil டிஸ்லெக்சியா
  • டிஸ்லெக்சியா (ṭislekciyā)learning disability
Turkish disleksi
  • disleksilearning disability
Ukrainian дислексія
  • дислексія (dysleksija)learning disability
Vietnamese chứng khó đọc
  • chứng khó đọclearning disability
Welsh dyslecsia
  • dyslecsialearning disability

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

dyslexia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dyslexia

MLA

“dyslexia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dyslexia. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dyslexia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dyslexia.

Source: dyslexia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.