palsy
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology 1
From Middle English palesie, from Anglo-Norman paralisie, parleisie et al., from Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “palsy”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to disable on one side”), from παρα- (para-, “beside”) + λύω (lúō, “loosen”). Doublet of paralysis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɔːlzi/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɔːlzi
Noun
palsy (countable and uncountable, plural palsies)
- (pathology) Complete or partial muscle paralysis of a body part, often accompanied by a loss of feeling and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking.
- c. 1620,, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665):
- The palsie plagues my pulses
when I prigg yoͬ: piggs or pullen
your culuers take, or matchles make
your Chanticleare or sullen
- The palsie plagues my pulses
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 73:
- "Young lady, there is no hope; one side of the Duchesse is struck with palsy; she retains her senses, and will, most probably, to the last; but she cannot live through the night."
- 1891, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 1, in The Blue Pavilions:
- "Ah! now we come to business! Barber, who's dead?"
"Alderman Croten, sir."
"Tut-tut. Croten gone?"
"Yes, sir; palsy took him at a ripe age. And Abel's gone, the Town Crier;"
- 1952, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth:
- Again we were stricken of our palsy, slowed down, re-accelerated, and there, at last, were the few huts of a hamlet, with the lorry, lying at an angle in the road's camber, outside a tea-shop.
- Synonym: paralysis
- c. 1620,, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665):
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations
complete or partial muscle paralysis of a body part
|
Verb
palsy (third-person singular simple present palsies, present participle palsying, simple past and past participle palsied)
- To paralyse, either completely or partially.
- 1831, William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, To The Public
- In the month of August, I issued proposals for publishing "THE LIBERATOR" in Washington city; but the enterprise, though hailed in different sections of the country, was palsied by public indifference.
- 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IX, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
- Its streets were blocked up with snow - the few passengers seemed palsied with snow, and frozen by the ungenial visitation of winter.
- 1831, William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, To The Public
See also
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpælzi/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
palsy (comparative more palsy, superlative most palsy)
- (colloquial) Chummy, friendly.
Further reading
- “palsy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “palsy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “palsy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
