Meanings
plural paralyses
- countableuncountablemedicineThe complete loss of voluntary control of part of a living body, such as one or more limbs.
- countableuncountableA state of being unable to act.
The government has been in a paralysis since it lost its majority in the parliament.
2 more examples
Until then, the Sunak administration remains a study in ineffectuality on multiple fronts, leading Goldsmith to cite, not unreasonably, “a kind of paralysis”.
2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2023Will this decision-making paralysis continue until Great British Railways has been established and settled into a new rhythm? If so, passengers on the West of England line are in for a rough ride, as the reliability of these tired old British Rail trains inevitably declines, and maintenance costs rise.
2026 February 18, Paul Clifton, “West of England Line problems laid bare”, in RAIL, page 7
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαράλυσις“palsy”
- Latinparalysis
- Englishparalysis
Borrowed from Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “palsy”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to disable on one side”). By surface analysis, para- + -lysis. Doublet of palsy.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παράλυσις
- παράλυσις (parálusis)loss of muscle control
Arabic شَلَل, فَالَج
- شَلَل (šalal)loss of muscle control
- فَالَج (fālaj)loss of muscle control
Bulgarian пара́лиза
- пара́лиза (paráliza)loss of muscle control
Catalan paràlisi
- paràlisiloss of muscle control
Chinese Mandarin 癱瘓 /瘫痪, 麻痹
- 癱瘓 /瘫痪 (tānhuàn)loss of muscle control
- 麻痹 (mábì)loss of muscle control
Czech ochrnutí, paralýza
- ochrnutíloss of muscle control
- paralýzaloss of muscle control
Danish paralyse, lammelse
- paralyseloss of muscle control
- lammelseloss of muscle control
Dutch verlamming
- verlammingloss of muscle control
Esperanto paralizo
- paralizoloss of muscle control
Estonian halvatus
- halvatusloss of muscle control
Finnish halvaus, lama
- halvausloss of muscle control
- lamastate of inability to act
- lamaannusstate of inability to act
French paralysie
- paralysieloss of muscle control
German Paralyse, Lähmung
- Paralyseloss of muscle control
- Lähmungloss of muscle control
- Muskellähmungloss of muscle control
Greek παράλυση
- παράλυση (parálysi)loss of muscle control
Hebrew שיתוק \ שִׁתּוּק
- שיתוק \ שִׁתּוּק (shitúk)loss of muscle control
Hindi लक़वा, पक्षाघात
- लक़वा (laqvā)loss of muscle control
- पक्षाघात (pakṣāghāt)loss of muscle control
- अंगघात (aṅgghāt)loss of muscle control
- फ़ालिज (fālij)loss of muscle control
Hungarian bénulás, paralízis
- bénulásloss of muscle control
- paralízisloss of muscle control
- megbénulásloss of muscle control
- lebénulásloss of muscle control
- parézisloss of muscle control
- bénultságstate of inability to act
- cselekvésképtelenségstate of inability to act
- tehetetlenségstate of inability to act
Icelandic lömun
- lömunloss of muscle control
Italian paralisi
- paralisiloss of muscle control
Japanese まひ状態, 麻痺
- まひ状態 (mahijōtei)loss of muscle control
- 麻痺 (mahi)loss of muscle control
Korean 마비
- 마비 (mabi)loss of muscle control
Latin paralysis
- paralysisloss of muscle control
Latvian paralīze
- paralīzeloss of muscle control
Lithuanian paralyžius
- paralyžiusloss of muscle control
Malay kelumpuhan
- kelumpuhanloss of muscle control
Māori mate rōrā
- mate rōrāloss of muscle control
Norwegian Bokmål lammelse
- lammelseloss of muscle control
Persian فلج
- فلج (falaj)loss of muscle control
Polish paraliż, porażenie
- paraliżloss of muscle control
- porażenieloss of muscle control
- bezwładloss of muscle control
- paraliżstate of inability to act
- niemocstate of inability to act
- bezwładstate of inability to act
Portuguese paralisia, paralisia
- paralisialoss of muscle control
- paralisiastate of inability to act
Romanian paralizie
- paralizieloss of muscle control
Russian парали́ч, парализо́ванность
- парали́ч (paralíč)loss of muscle control
- парализо́ванность (paralizóvannostʹ)loss of muscle control
- парали́ч (paralíč)state of inability to act
Slovak ochrnutie, paralýza
- ochrnutieloss of muscle control
- paralýzaloss of muscle control
Spanish parálisis
- parálisisloss of muscle control
Swedish paralys, förlamning
- paralysloss of muscle control
- förlamningloss of muscle control
Tamil பக்கவாதம், பாரிசவாதம்
- பக்கவாதம் (pakkavātam)loss of muscle control
- பாரிசவாதம் (pāricavātam)loss of muscle control
Thai อัมพาต
- อัมพาต (am-má-pâat)loss of muscle control
Turkish felç, inme
- felçloss of muscle control
- inmeloss of muscle control
Ukrainian пара́ліч
- пара́ліч (parálič)loss of muscle control
Urdu لَقْوَہ, فالِج
- لَقْوَہ (laqvā)loss of muscle control
- فالِج (fālij)loss of muscle control
Vietnamese liệt
- liệtloss of muscle control
Yiddish פּאַראַליטש
- פּאַראַליטש (paralitsh)loss of muscle control
Cite this entry
paralysis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paralysis
“paralysis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paralysis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paralysis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paralysis.
Source: paralysis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.