Etymologically
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delirium

Etymology and origin of the Latin word delirium

History
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin delirium
English delirium

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [deːˈliː.ri.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈliː.ri.um][1]

Forms

dēlīrium n (genitive dēlīriī or dēlīrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed with the suffix -ium from dēlīrus “crazy”, according to the OLD, or from the verb dēlīrāre “to be deranged”, according to the TLL and Wiktionary.[2][3][1] The verb is literally “to go off the furrow”, from dē (“off, away”) and līra “furrow”, a ploughing metaphor, from Proto-Indo-European *loys- (“track, furrow”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Celsus, in the early 1st century AD,[5] who describes a patient troubled by fever, delirium and difficult breathing.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a medical term for a derangement of the mind, delirium or frenzy, especially in fever.[2][6] Celsus uses it often, noting for example that delirium arises from fear and that it can be a sign of recovery when heat and shivering are present.[3]

English borrowed it in the 1590s for a disordered state of mind in illness, and the medical Latin delirium tremens was coined in 1813.[4]

Timeline

  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it as a medical term.[5][3]
  • 1590s – English borrows it as English delirium.[4]
  • 1813 – The medical phrase delirium tremens is coined.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (medicine) A derangement of the mind, delirium, frenzy.[2][6]

Word family

  • dēlīrō
  • dēlīrus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Delirium.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/delirium. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .