autism

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɔː.tɪ.zəm/, US /ˈɑː.tɪ.zəm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Autismus, coined in 1912 by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler,^[2][3] from New Latin autismus,^[2][4] from Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) (see auto-) and -ism.^[2][3][5] The idea was of morbid self-absorption.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A condition of morbid self-absorption and withdrawal from reality, first a symptom of schizophrenia: 1912.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective autistic is also from 1912, its ending modelled on words like characteristic,^[2] and the noun autistic from 1968.^[2] Infantile autism became a separate diagnosis,^[7] and today autism is understood as a lifelong developmental condition affecting social communication and interaction.^[8]

Timeline

• 1912 – autism; autistic (Bleuler).^[2]
• 1968 – an autistic (noun).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A lifelong developmental condition that affects social communication and interaction, often with restricted or repetitive behaviour and interests.
2. (dated) Abnormal self-absorption and withdrawal from reality.

Word family

• autist
• autistically
• autistic
• infantile autism

Related words

• auto-

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins