Meanings
plural narcolepsies
- countableuncountablemedicineA disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, often brief, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.
Excitement-induced narcolepsy caused him to sleep through the most important events of his life.
1 more example
“The conflict between corporations and activists is that of narcolepsy versus remembrance. The corporations have money, power, and influence. Our sole weapon is public outrage. Outrage blocked the Yuccan Dam, ousted Nixon, and in part, terminated the monstrosities in Vietnam. [...]”
2004, David Mitchell, “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery”, in Cloud Atlas, →ISBN, pages 123-124
Origin
- Frenchnarcolepsie
- Englishnarcolepsy
From French narcolepsie. By surface analysis, narco- + -lepsy, from Ancient Greek ναρκόω (narkóō, “put to sleep”) + λῆψις (lêpsis, “seizure”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans narkolepsie
- narkolepsiesleeping disorder
Arabic تَغْفِيق
- تَغْفِيق (taḡfīq)sleeping disorder
Basque narkolepsia
- narkolepsiasleeping disorder
Catalan narcolèpsia
- narcolèpsiasleeping disorder
Chinese Mandarin 發作性睡病 /发作性睡病, 發作性嗜睡病 /发作性嗜睡病
- 發作性睡病 /发作性睡病 (fāzuòxìng shuìbìng)sleeping disorder
- 發作性嗜睡病 /发作性嗜睡病 (fāzuòxìng shìshuì bìng)sleeping disorder
- 猝睡症 (cùshuìzhèng)sleeping disorder
- 渴睡症 (kěshuìzhèng)sleeping disorder
- 嗜眠病 (shìmiánbìng)sleeping disorder
- 嗜眠症 (shìmiánzhèng)sleeping disorder
Czech narkolepsie
- narkolepsiesleeping disorder
Danish narkolepsi
- narkolepsisleeping disorder
Dutch slaapzucht, narcolepsie
- slaapzuchtsleeping disorder
- narcolepsiesleeping disorder
Estonian narkolepsia
- narkolepsiasleeping disorder
Finnish narkolepsia, nukahtelusairaus
- narkolepsiasleeping disorder
- nukahtelusairaussleeping disorder
French narcolepsie
- narcolepsiesleeping disorder
German Narkolepsie
- Narkolepsiesleeping disorder
Greek ναρκοληψία
- ναρκοληψία (narkolipsía)sleeping disorder
Hebrew נרקולפסיה
- נרקולפסיהsleeping disorder
Icelandic drómasýki
- drómasýkisleeping disorder
Indonesian narkolepsi
- narkolepsisleeping disorder
Irish narcailéipse
- narcailéipsesleeping disorder
Italian narcolessia
- narcolessiasleeping disorder
Japanese ナルコレプシー, 居眠り病
- ナルコレプシー (narukorepushī)sleeping disorder
- 居眠り病 (inemuri byō)sleeping disorder
Korean 기면증
- 기면증 (gimyeonjeung)sleeping disorder
Lithuanian narkolepsija
- narkolepsijasleeping disorder
Norwegian narkolepsi
- narkolepsisleeping disorder
Polish narkolepsja
- narkolepsjasleeping disorder
Portuguese narcolepsia
- narcolepsiasleeping disorder
Romanian narcolepsie
- narcolepsiesleeping disorder
Russian нарколе́псия
- нарколе́псия (narkolépsija)sleeping disorder
Scottish Gaelic an galar tuiteamas-cadail
- an galar tuiteamas-cadailsleeping disorder
Slovak narkolepsia
- narkolepsiasleeping disorder
Spanish narcolepsia
- narcolepsiasleeping disorder
Swedish narkolepsi
- narkolepsisleeping disorder
Turkish narkolepsi
- narkolepsisleeping disorder
Ukrainian нарколе́псія
- нарколе́псія (narkolépsija)sleeping disorder
Cite this entry
narcolepsy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/narcolepsy
“narcolepsy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/narcolepsy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “narcolepsy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/narcolepsy.
Source: narcolepsy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.