Words · Familiar
epilepsy
/ˈɛpəˌlɛpsi/ · 8 letters · 6 distinct letters
- noun
a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by loss of consciousness and convulsions
Word history
Since 16th century; borrowed from French épilepsie, from Latin epilēpsia, from Ancient Greek ἐπιληψίᾱ (epilēpsíā), from ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambánō, “to seize”), from ἐπι (epi, “upon”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”). Displaced native Old English fiellesēocnes (literally “falling sickness”).
From Wiktionary, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0
Why this word counts
- Where it comes from
- Listed in the English Speller Database at size 35: the core list of everyday words.
- How common it is
- Used about 3 times in every million words.
- In the spelling bee
- Daily answer A standard word with a definition we can show, so it can be a daily answer.