delirium
UK /dɪˈlɪ.ɹi.əm/ · US /dɪˈlɪɹ.i.əm/ noun
Forms deliriums deliria
- noun (medicine) A temporary mental state with a sudden onset, usually reversible, including symptoms of confusion, inability to concentrate, disorientation, anxiety, and sometimes hallucinations. Causes can include dehydration, drug intoxication, and severe infection.
- noun Wild, frenzied excitement or ecstasy.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin dēlīrium (“derangement, madness”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A state in which the thoughts, expressions, and actions are wild, irregular, and incoherent; mental aberration; a roving or wandering of the mind, --usually dependent on a fever or some other disease, and so distinguished from mania, or madness.
- noun Strong excitement; wild enthusiasm; madness.
Etymology [L., fr. delirare to rave, to wander in mind, prop., to go out of the furrow in plowing; de- + lira furrow, track; perh. akin to G. geleise track, rut, and E. last to endure.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “delirium”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details