ἐπιληψία

Forms

ἐπῐληψίᾱ (epilēpsíā) f (genitive ἐπῐληψίᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic ἐπιληψίη, in the Hippocratic On Nutriment.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō, “to lay hold of, attack”) + -ία (-íā), on the stem of the verb seen in ἐπίληψις (epílēpsis, “seizure”).^[1][3] The verb, used especially of diseases that seize a person, is ἐπί (epí, “upon”) with λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).^[3][4] Bailly and the GNW derive the noun from the adjective ἐπίληπτος (epílēptos, “caught; epileptic”).^[5][6] Πάπυρος compares the ending of δωροληψία (dōrolēpsía) and προσωποληψία (prosōpolēpsía), which occurs only in compounds.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Hippocratic Aphorisms, its first record, it already names the disease epilepsy.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to medical writing: of its 125 occurrences in the GLAUx corpus, all but a few are of the 2nd century AD, most of them in Galen.^[2] Outside medicine the Problems attributed to Aristotle use it for a sudden stopping or interception, the more general sense of ἐπίληψις (epílēpsis).^[5][8] Plutarch uses it for the disease.^[5][8]

Medieval vernacular medical books use επιληψία for epilepsy and “moonstruck” fits.^[9] English took epilepsy in the 1570s from French, which had it from Late Latin epilepsia.^[3][1] Modern Greek επιληψία (epilipsía) is the learned name of the disease.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Aphorisms use it for epilepsy.^[5][2][11]
• 4th century BC – The Problems attributed to Aristotle use it for a sudden stopping.^[5][8][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for epilepsy.^[5][11]
• 2nd century AD – Galen and other medical writers use it far more than any earlier period.^[2][11]
• 1100–1669 – A vernacular medical book uses επιληψία (epilipsía) for epilepsy.^[9]
• 1570s – English borrows epilepsy through French and Late Latin.^[3]
• Modern Greek – The learned επιληψία (epilipsía) names the disease.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) Epilepsy.^[5][8][6]
2. A sudden stopping, interception.^[5][8][12]

Related words

• ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō)
• ἐπίληπτος (epílēptos)
• ἐπιληπτικός (epilēptikós)
• ἐπιληπτίζω (epilēptízō)
• English epilepsy

Usage notes

LSJ records the fit itself under ἐπίληψις (epílēpsis), which Hippocratic writers also use, and Pape treats ἐπιληψία as the same word.^[4][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ a b Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl
7. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b c d e f Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli