catalepsy

Definition

A severe bodily condition, described in psychiatric pathology, marked by sudden rigidity, fixation of posture, and loss of contact with environmental conditions.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κατάληψις (katálēpsis, “act of seizing”), from καταλαμβάνω (katalambánō, “to seize”), from κατά (katá, “against”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”). By surface analysis, cata- + -lepsy.

Example Sentences

• ""But they could not have been asleep!" cried Lord John. "Dash it all, Challenger, you don't mean to believe that those folk were asleep with their staring eyes and stiff limbs and that awful death grin on their faces!" "It can only have been the condition that is called catalepsy," said Challenger."
• "I was furious with Edgar Allan Poe for writing so accurately about this. His tales of catalepsy and live burial poisoned my childhood, and still killed me."

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