Meanings
plural phrenitides
- countablehistoricaluncountablemedicineMadness, especially as caused by inflammation of the brain; encephalitis, encephalomeningitis, or meningitis.
Phrenitis, which the Greeks derive from the word φρήν, is a disease of the mind, with a continual madness or dotage[…].
1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York: New York Review Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 140Synonyms: cephalitis
Synonyms & antonyms
nounMadness, especially as caused by inflammation of the brain; encephalitis, encephalomeningitis, or meningitis.
More synonyms by meaning
nouninflammation of the brain usually caused by a virus; symptoms include headache and neck pain and drowsiness and nausea and fever (‘phrenitis’ is no longer in scientific use)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekφρενῖτις
- Latinphrenītis
- Englishphrenitis
From Latin phrenītis, from Ancient Greek φρενῖτις (phrenîtis), from φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
phrenitis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phrenitis
“phrenitis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phrenitis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phrenitis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phrenitis.
Source: phrenitis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.