irritability

English

Etymology

From Latin irritabilitas.

Noun

irritability (countable and uncountable; plural irritabilities)

1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability; petulance; fretfulness; as, irritability of temper.
2. (physiology) A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways.
   • E. Darwin

     We find a renitency in ourselves to ascribe life and irritability to the cold and motionless fibres of plants.

3. (medicine) A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli.

Translations

state or quality of being irritable

• Catalan: irritabilitat (ca) f

• Spanish: irritabilidad (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian: iritabilitate

References

• irritability in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• irritability in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913