dementia pugilistica

noun

dementia pu·​gi·​lis·​ti·​ca -ˌpyü-jə-ˈli-sti-kə 

: chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Brain degeneration from repeated blows to the head has been known in boxers since the 1920s as dementia pugilistica, or punch-drunk syndrome.

—Luna Shyr

Examples of dementia pugilistica in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By the fifties, punch-drunk syndrome was being described as dementia pugilistica and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. —Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 11 Feb. 2023

And is there really a difference between dementia pugilistica and chronic traumatic encephalopathy? —John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 22 Jan. 2021

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, "pugilistic dementia"

Note: The term was introduced by J.A. Millspaugh, a lieutenant in U.S. Navy Medical Corps, in "Dementia Pugilistica," United States Naval Medical Bulletin, vol. 35, no. 3 (July, 1937), pp. 297-303.

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

dementia pugilistica

noun

dementia pu·​gi·​lis·​ti·​ca -ˌpyü-jə-ˈlis-tə-kə 

: chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Brain degeneration from repeated blows to the head has been known in boxers since the 1920s as dementia pugilistica, or punch-drunk syndrome.

—Luna Shyr, National Geographic