catatonia - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
catatonia (usually uncountable, plural catatonias)
- A severe psychiatric condition, often associated with schizophrenia, characterized by a tendency to remain in a rigid state of stupor for long periods which give way to short periods of extreme agitation.
- (informal) A frozen, unresponsive state, as of electronic equipment.
- ✤ “Relay that!” Thwaite shouted. Somewhere on the bridge a hand closed over a relay and dropped the AIDs into an electronic catatonia.1
Etymology
From international scientific vocabulary, from German Katatonie, from New Latin catatonia, from a Greek word meaning to stretch tight. By surface analysis, cata- + tone + -ia.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˌkætəˈtoʊniə/
- Audio (Southern England): 🔊
Printed 2026-09-17.
(echo:: @ ⌗)
Footnotes
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1998, David Drake, Thomas T. Thomas, Crisis of Empire Book I: An Honorable Defense: ↩