Meanings
plural tarantisms · alternative tarentism
- uncountableusuallyAn extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
The position depicted is often seen to characterize rituals of tarantism, used for centuries in southern Italy and elsewhere to treat victims of the tarantula's bite, expressing personal and social crises (De Martino 2005).
2012, Hélène Neveu Kringelbach, Jonathan Skinner, Dancing Cultures: Globalization, Tourism and Identity in the Anthropology of Dance, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page 601 more example
This dancing mania or tarantism prevailed during the whole of the 17th century — and Baglivi, one of the best physicians of that time, made it the subject of a dissertation. He supports his history of the symptoms by the testimony of his father, […]
1835, James Johnson, The Medico-chirurgical Review, page 53Synonyms: choreomania, dancing mania
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
Origin
- Latin-ismus“-ism”
- Old ItalianTaranto“seaport in southern Italy”
- New Latintarantismus
- Englishtarantism
From New Latin tarantismus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result), from Old Italian Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”) + Latin -ismus (“-ism”); see further at tarantula. The English word is cognate with French tarentisme, Italian tarantismo.
More words from New Latin, Old Italian, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan tarantisme
- tarantismean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Danish tarantisme
- tarantismean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Dutch tarantisme, danswoede
- tarantismean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
- danswoedean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
French tarentisme
- tarentismean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
German Tanzwut
- Tanzwutan extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Hungarian tarantizmus
- tarantizmusan extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Norwegian tarantisme
- tarantismean extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Portuguese tarantismo
- tarantismoan extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Swedish tarantism
- tarantisman extreme urge to dance thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula
Cite this entry
tarantism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarantism
“tarantism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarantism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tarantism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarantism.
Source: tarantism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.