Etymologically
Log in

schizophrenia

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word schizophrenia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1908 Rev. Neurol. & Psychiatry
Borrowed from
German Schizophrenie
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σχίζω,φρήν

Pronunciation

  • UK: /skɪtsə(ʊ)ˈfɹiːniə/[1]
  • US: /ˌskɪtsəˈfɹiniə/, /ˌskɪtsəˈfɹɛniə/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Schizophrenie,[2][3][4][5] coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler,[3][6][7] in 1908 according to the OED and Etymonline;[2][3] Ayto and Barnhart date the coinage to 1910, and Barnhart calls Bleuler a German psychiatrist.[4][5] The German word is formed from the combining form schizo-, from Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”),[2][3][8] with φρήν (phrḗn, “heart, mind”) (genitive φρενός (phrenós)) and the suffix -ia;[2][6][5] English took it in the Latinized form, as a New Latin word.[5][9][10] Etymonline traces the Greek verb to Proto-Indo-European *skei- (“to cut, split”).[3] The name means literally "a splitting of the mind".[3][6][4] The OED compares the earlier hebephrenia, oligophrenia and paraphrenia.[2] Through the Greek, it is related to schism and schist, and to frantic and phrenology.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A serious mental disorder affecting thought, perception and behaviour: 1908, in the OED's first quotation, from a journal of neurology and psychiatry.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the English word to 1909,[3][9] Barnhart to 1912.[5] Stedman's notes that Bleuler's term replaced dementia praecox.[7]

Semantic evolution

In popular use the word was soon applied to the condition of having two or more distinct personalities, from 1933, in Eliot, a use that Wiktionary marks as now deprecated.[2][1] Figurative uses followed: detachment from reality (1945, Orwell) and an attitude marked by contradictory elements (1958).[2] Collins labels the second informal and offensive.[11] The adjective schizophrenic is recorded from 1912 and the noun from 1926.[5]

Timeline

  • 1908 – German Schizophrenie; first English use.[2][3]
  • 1912 – schizophrenic, adjective.[5]
  • 1926 – schizophrenic, noun.[5]
  • 1933 – having two or more distinct personalities.[2]
  • 1945 – figurative, detachment from reality.[2]
  • 1958 – figurative, a contradictory mentality or approach.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (psychiatry) Any of a group of severe mental disorders marked by delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking and behaviour, and withdrawal from reality and other people.[11][9][2][7]
  2. The supposed condition of having two or more distinct personalities; split personality.[2][1]
  3. (informal) Behaviour or attitudes driven by contradictory principles: the schizophrenia of a party that wants lower taxes and higher spending.[11][2]

Word family

  • schizophrenic
  • schizophrenically
  • schizophrene
  • schizophreniform
  • schizophrenogenic
  • paranoid schizophrenia
  • reactive schizophrenia
  • frenetic
  • frenzy
  • frantic
  • frenzied
  • phrenology
  • schist
  • schism
  • hebephrenia
  • paraphrenia

Usage notes

In popular use the word is often confused with dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality), a use considered incorrect in medicine.[1][2] Collins labels the figurative sense of contradictory behaviour offensive.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Schizophrenia.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/schizophrenia. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·