catatonia
/ˌkætəˈtoʊniə/ noun
Forms catatonias catatony
- noun A severe psychiatric condition, often associated with schizophrenia, characterized by a tendency to remain in a rigid state of stupor for long periods which give way to short periods of extreme agitation.
- noun (informal) A frozen, unresponsive state, as of electronic equipment.
Synonyms
Etymology
From international scientific vocabulary, from German Katatonie, from New Latin catatonia, from a Greek word meaning to stretch tight. By surface analysis, cata- + tone + -ia.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “catatonia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details