epilepsia major
- noun
- /ˌɛpɪˈlɛpsiə ˈmeɪdʒər/
- Archaic
:
epilepsia mayor
- The doctor diagnosed her with epilepsia major after observing a series of severe seizures.
Examples
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Modern neurology now refers to epilepsia major as 'grand mal' or tonic-clonic seizures.
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The nurse explained that epilepsia major causes strong, whole-body convulsions and can be dangerous without proper treatment.
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During the nineteenth century, epilepsia major was a common term for major convulsive episodes.
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He was diagnosed with epilepsia major last year.
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The symptoms of epilepsia major can be very intense.
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After suffering a seizure, the patient was found to have epilepsia major, characterized by loss of consciousness and convulsions.
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He experienced epilepsia major for the first time during a stressful situation, leading to an urgent trip to the hospital.
Synonyms
6
7.4
A severe epileptic seizure that makes a person lose consciousness and have strong body jerks
A seizure that affects the whole brain and causes loss of consciousness and violent body shaking
Surface Forms
Morphology
epilepsia + major
Although 'epilepsia' is not a common English dictionary headword (it appears as a medical/Latin or Spanish form), the structure is simply noun + adjective: 'epilepsia' (epilepsy/seizure) modified by 'major' (severe). If a learner knows both constituent meanings, the phrase compositionally yields 'a severe form of epilepsy/major seizure', a cross-linguistically familiar pattern, so the meaning is directly derivable.
Etymology
Epilepsia major is an old medical name made of the words epilepsia, meaning a seizure, and major, meaning bigger or more severe. Old doctors used this name for the worst kind of seizure with loss of consciousness and strong body convulsions, so it came to mean the 'severe seizure' now often called 'grand mal'.