epilepsia

Forms

epilēpsia f (genitive epilēpsiae); first declension^[1][2] Late and medieval texts spell it epilempsia, epilemsia and epilensia.^[3][4] Theodorus Priscianus has the by-form epilēpsis.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπιληψία (epilēpsía, “epilepsy”).^[2][1][4] The DMLBS gives ἐπίληψις (epílēpsis) beside it as the source.^[5] The Greek noun means literally “a seizure” and comes from ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō, “to lay hold of, seize upon”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it, spelt with ⟨-lens-⟩ in the manuscripts, in the Mathesis of Firmicus Maternus,^[3] written in 343–350 AD.^[7] It names the falling sickness.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was a Greek medical term beside the native Latin name morbus comitialis.^[2][1] Lampridius uses it in the life of Heliogabalus, and Caelius Aurelianus discusses it at length among the chronic diseases;^[2][1] Vegetius applies it to cattle.^[2]

In medieval Latin it remained the ordinary medical name of the disease, in many spellings: the Salerno glosses describe it as a blockage of the chief ventricles of the brain.^[4] Through French épilepsie it reached English.^[6]

Timeline

• 343–350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses the form with ⟨-lens-⟩.^[3][7]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius speaks of epilepsy in cattle.^[2][7]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus describes the disease among chronic illnesses.^[2][1][7]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville writes it with ⟨-lems-⟩.^[3][7]
• 2nd half of the 12th century – Hildegard of Bingen writes on epylempsia.^[4][7]
• 1570s – English borrows epilepsy from French, which took it from Late Latin.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Epilepsy, the falling sickness.^[2][1][8][4]

Related words

• epilēpticus
• comitialis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill