ἐπίληψις

Forms

ἐπίληψῐς (epílēpsis) f (genitive ἐπῐλήψεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō, “to seize, lay hold of”) + -σις (-sis).^[1][2][3] The verb is made of ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) and λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”), and it was used of a disease that suddenly attacks someone; the noun has the stem of λῆψις (lêpsis, “taking”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.^[4][3] The Hippocratic writings use it for an epileptic fit and for the onset of a disease, Isocrates for censure, and Plato's Laws for laying hands on property to claim it.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the general sense of seizing: Epicurus uses it for taking hold or clasping, and Appian for taking something in addition.^[5] In Attic law it was the seizure of property by someone claiming it.^[5][6] Figuratively, laying hold of someone meant finding fault with them, so from Isocrates on the word means censure, Plutarch and Athenaeus use it the same way.^[5][6][7]

In medicine it was the “seizure” of a disease, above all the fit of the falling sickness, in the Hippocratic writings and in Aristotle's Problems.^[5][7] The disease itself came to be called ἐπιληψία (epilēpsíā); it was also known by the euphemism “sacred disease”.^[3] Through Latin epilepsia (Late Latin) and French épilepsie the name reached English as epilepsy in the 1570s.^[8] Modern Greek uses the learned word επιληψία (epilipsía) for the disease.^[9][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Hippocratic writings use it for an epileptic fit and for the attack of a disease.^[5][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Isocrates uses it for censure, and Plato's Laws for the seizure of property in a legal claim.^[5][6][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Problems uses it of epileptic fits.^[5]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for censure.^[5][6]
• 2nd century AD – Appian uses it for taking something besides.^[5]
• 11th–12th century AD – Michael of Ephesus uses it for a stoppage.^[5]
• 1570s – English borrows the name of the disease as epilepsy, through French and Late Latin.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A taking hold, clasping; a taking of something in addition.^[5]
2. (law) The seizure of property by someone who claims it.^[5][6]
3. Censure, criticism, reproach.^[5][6][7]
4. (medicine) An epileptic fit; also the attack or onset of a disease.^[5][7][10]
5. (Byzantine) A stoppage.^[5]

Related words

• ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō)
• ἐπιληψία (epilēpsíā)
• λῆψις (lêpsis)
• English epilepsy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press