epilepsy

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epilepsy

/ˈɛpɪlɛpsi/ UK
/ˈɛpɪˌlɛpsi/ US
/ˈɛpəˌlɛpsi/ US
/ˈepəlepsi/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈɛpɪlɛpse/ Scotland
/-sɪ/ Scotland
/-si/ Scotland

Where it comes from

Since 16th century; borrowed from French épilepsie, from Latin epilēpsia, from Ancient Greek ἐπιληψίᾱ (epilēpsíā), from ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō, “to seize”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”). Displaced native Old English fiellesēocnes (literally “falling sickness”).

noun epilepsies

countable, uncountable A medical condition in which the sufferer experiences seizures (or convulsions) and blackouts. Epilepsies, or fallings and reelings, and beastly vomitings. The least of these, even when the tongue begins to be untied, is a degree of drunkenness.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: epileptic, seizure, fit, fits, convulsions, seizures, falling-sickness, epilepsia, status epilepticus, eclampsy, eclampsia, eppy, falling sickness, pyknolepsy, oligoepilepsy, hemiconvulsion

Translations

Every language

noun medical condition

Español	epilepsia, gota caduca, gota coral, mal caduco
日本語	癲癇 tenkan
中文	羊癲瘋 /羊癫疯 yángdiānfēng, 癲癇 /癫痫 diānxián, 癲癇癥 /癫痫症 diānxiánzhèng, 羊癇 /羊痫 yángxián, 羊癇瘋 /羊痫疯 yángxiánfēng, 羊角風 /羊角风 yángjiǎofēng
हिन्दी	अपस्मार apasmār, मिर्गी mirgī
Kiswahili	kifafa
Português	epilepsia
Français	épilepsie, mal caduc
Deutsch	Epilepsie, Fallsucht
Italiano	epilessia
Ελληνικά	επιληψία epilipsía
Русский	эпиле́псия epilépsija, паду́чая padúčaja
Tiếng Việt	bệnh động kinh, hội chứng động kinh
العربية	صَرْع ṣarʕ

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Cite this

MLA

"epilepsy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/epilepsy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

epilepsy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/epilepsy

Chicago

"epilepsy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/epilepsy.

BibTeX

@misc{epilepsy_2026,
  title = {epilepsy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/epilepsy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}