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

Example Sentences

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

Over the decades, it was sometimes suggested that dementia pugilistica might befall professional football players, too. —Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2020

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