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schizophrenic

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Etymology and origin of the English word schizophrenic

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1912 W. A. White's translation of Eugen Bleuler
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σχίζω,φρήν
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English schizophrenia
English schizophrenic

Pronunciation

  • /ˌskɪtsəˈfɹɛnɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English schizophrenia + -ic, after German schizophren.[2][3][4][5] Schizophrenia is from German Schizophrenie, a word coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler,[3][5][2] in 1908 according to the OED and Etymonline[2][3] and in 1910 according to Barnhart.[5] He formed it from Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”) and φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”),[3][2][5] so it means literally "a splitting of the mind".[3] Etymonline traces the Greek verb to Proto-Indo-European *skei- (“to cut, split”).[3] English also tried the noun schizophrene, from German, by 1925.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to or having schizophrenia: 1912, in W. A. White's translation of a work by Bleuler, where the noun also appears, for a person with schizophrenia.[2][3] Barnhart also dates the adjective to 1912, but the noun only to 1926.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the 1920s the word was also used of a person supposed to have two or more distinct personalities, recorded as a noun from 1924 and as an adjective from 1937,[2] a confusion of schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder that is discouraged in medical use.[2][6] From this came the figurative sense "having inconsistent or contradictory elements", recorded from 1938 by the OED[2] and by 1955 by Etymonline.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1912 – adjective and noun, of or having schizophrenia; a person with schizophrenia.[2][3][5]
  • 1924 – noun, a person thought to have more than one personality.[2]
  • 1937 – adjective, having more than one personality.[2]
  • 1938 – figurative, inconsistent or contradictory.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1955.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (psychiatry) Of, relating to or affected with schizophrenia.[7][8][2][9]
  2. (informal, offensive) Having or showing contradictory or inconsistent elements, attitudes or emotions: the city's schizophrenic attitude to tourism.[8][7][9][2]
  3. Having, or supposed to have, two or more distinct personalities.[2]

Noun

  1. A person who has schizophrenia.[7][8][2][9]

Word family

  • schizophrenically

Usage notes

Collins advises speaking of someone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than of a schizophrenic, and labels the use for "contradictory" informal and offensive, suggesting contradictory, inconsistent or incoherent instead.[8] Wiktionary notes that the informal use, which confuses the condition with multiple personality disorder, is discouraged because it stigmatizes the disorder.[6]

References

  1. ^ 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 q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Schizophrenic.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/schizophrenic. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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