dementia praecox
See also: dementia præcox
English
Alternative forms
- dementia præcox (obsolete)
Etymology
A Latin phrase coined in German (by Arnold Pick in 1891) and later adopted into English: dēmentia (“madness”, “insanity”) + praecox (“premature”, “untimely”) (whence the English precocious) = “untimely madness” ≈ “premature dementia” (here, dēmentia carries the connotation of senile dementia).
Noun
dementia praecox (usually uncountable, plural dementiae praecoces)
- (dated, psychiatry) schizophrenia
Translations
dated psychiatric diagnosis
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