noun
epilepsy
EP-uh-lep-see/ˈepɪlepsi/
A neurological disorder marked by recurrent seizures.
The repeated seizures on different days illustrate the woman's epilepsy.
Etymology
The pieces convey a “seizing upon”: the underlying Greek verb could describe a disease attacking someone. The name applies that image to the seizures characteristic of the disorder.
In context
in about a third of patients who come into the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit with suspicion for medically refractory epilepsy it turns out that they actually have non-epileptic seizures which look the same as epileptic seizures
More examples
- Not everyone who has a seizure has epilepsy.
- His epilepsy causes brief periods of lost awareness.
- The neurologist diagnosed her with epilepsy.
Forms
epileptic adjective — Relating to epilepsy or its seizures.
Similar words
- seizure disorder
- Often used as a less specific name for epilepsy.