logolepsy

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos, “word, speech”) + λῆψις (lêpsis, “seizure”).

Noun

logolepsy (uncountable)

1. (rare) A fascination or obsession with words.
   • 2003, Richard Lederer, A Man of My Words:

     Thanks to the magic of teleconferencing, often the format for a given show is call-in, and the phones and airwaves crackle with logolepsy.

   • 1900, Maurice Thompson, My winter garden: a nature-lover under southern skies:

     A case of logolepsy is easily distinguished from the perfectly sane mood which demands and imperiosly seizes the pregnant sign, and makes it the exponent of a hidden power.

Related terms

• logolept