epilepsy

noun

ep·i·lep·sy ˈe-pə-ˌlep-sē

plural epilepsies

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web In actuality, healthcare providers developed the keto diet to treat epilepsy in the 1920s.1 Still, people have been using the keto diet as a weight-loss plan since then. —

Isadora Baum, Health, 28 Mar. 2023 With diagnoses of epilepsy, asthma and cerebral palsy — the latter two of which put her at higher risk for respiratory complications from COVID-19 — Parramore had stayed at home for most of 2020 and 2021 to avoid getting the virus. —

Lauren J. Mapp, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Mar. 2023 The beach’s management is now studying how to create a safe beach for children with mental disabilities, autism, and epilepsy. —

Mariam Ehab, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Jan. 2023 Stoke Therapeutics said Monday that a higher dose of its experimental drug for epilepsy reduced the frequency of convulsive seizures in children with a rare form of the disease. —

Adam Feuerstein, STAT, 14 Nov. 2022 Because the human neurons matured so much within the rat brains, Paşca and his colleagues could see unusual differences in the development of brain organoids derived from people with a genetic disorder called Timothy syndrome, which often causes autism and epilepsy. —

Allison Whitten, Quanta Magazine, 12 Oct. 2022 Integrating them into our everyday lives could revolutionize health care, enabling early diagnosis and personalized treatment of conditions such as depression, epilepsy and even cognitive decline. —

Nita A. Farahany, Scientific American, 27 Mar. 2023 Sometimes co-occurring ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities, or even effects of medications for epilepsy and behavior can drive IQ scores down, suggesting intellectual disability that is not present. —

John Elder Robison, STAT, 23 Mar. 2023 Certain medications: Drugs that treat epilepsy or mental health conditions can cause irregular or absent periods. —

Dr. Roshini Raj, Health, 14 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'epilepsy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English epilencie, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French epelempsie, modification of Late Latin epilepsia, from Greek epilēpsia, from epilambanein to seize, from epi- + lambanein to take, seize — more at latch

First Known Use

1543, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of epilepsy was in 1543

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Epilepsy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epilepsy. Accessed 1 Jun. 2023.

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Kids Definition

epilepsy

noun

ep·i·lep·sy ˈep-ə-ˌlep-sē

: a disorder marked by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain, by attacks of convulsions, and by loss of consciousness

Medical Definition

epilepsy

noun

ep·i·lep·sy ˈep-ə-ˌlep-sē

plural epilepsies

: any of various disorders marked by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain and typically manifested by sudden brief episodes of altered or diminished consciousness, involuntary movements, or convulsions see absence epilepsy, grand mal sense 1, petit mal sense 1 focal epilepsy, jacksonian epilepsy, myoclonic epilepsy, temporal lobe epilepsy