insanity

English

Etymology

A three-part word (root 'sane', prefix 'in-' meaning 'not', suffix '-ity', meaning 'the state of'). Derived from Latin precursory equivalents. Two possible candidates for construction order:

• insane +‎ -ity: insānus (“unhealthy; insane”) + -itās

  Latin insānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sanus (“sound, sane”). Modern forms of roots: in- + sane

• in- +‎ sanity: in- (“lacking; without”) +‎ sanitās (“health; sanity”)

  Latin sanitās (“sound in mind; sane”), from sānus + -itās. Modern forms of roots: sane + -ity

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsænɪti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

insanity (countable and uncountable, plural insanities)

1. The state of being insane; madness.

   The defendant pleaded insanity in the hope of getting a reduced sentence.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Chamber of Death”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 271:

     But the bed-side of Lady Marchmont had a darker lesson than the grave, the ravings of insanity revealed the fiery world of that beating and passionate heart. Ethel could only feel too fearful, too humbled, for judgment; but she wept, even while she prayed, beside her early friend.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:insanity

Antonyms

• sanity

Related terms

• insane

Translations

state of being insane

• Albanian: marrëzi (sq) f
• Arabic: جُنُون‎ (ar) m (junūn)

  Egyptian Arabic: جنون‎ m (gunūn)

• Armenian: խելագարություն (hy) (xelagarutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: ağılsızlıq (az), dəlilik
• Belarusian: шале́нства n (šaljénstva)
• Bulgarian: лу́дост (bg) f (lúdost), ненорма́лност (bg) f (nenormálnost), безу́мие (bg) n (bezúmie)
• Catalan: insanitat f, bogeria (ca) f
• Cebuano: kabuang
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狂 (zh) (kuáng), 瘋病／疯病 (zh) (fēngbìng), 精神錯亂／精神错乱 (zh) (jīngshén cuòluàn)

• Czech: šílenství (cs) n
• Danish: sindssyge c, galskab c, vanvid (da) n
• Dutch: krankzinnigheid (nl) f, waanzin (nl) m
• Esperanto: frenezeco
• Estonian: vaimuhaigus, hullumeelsus
• Finnish: hulluus (fi)
• French: folie (fr) f
• Georgian: სიგიჟე (sigiže)
• German: Wahnsinn (de) m
• Greek: παραφροσύνη (el) (parafrosýni)

  Ancient: μανία f (manía)

• Hiligaynon: kabuang
• Hungarian: elmebaj (hu)
• Indonesian: kesintingan (id)
• Italian: follia (it) f, pazzia (it) f
• Japanese: 精神異常 (せいしん いじょう, seishin ijō), 狂気 (ja) (kyōki)
• Korean: 광기(狂氣) (ko) (gwanggi)
• Latin: vēsānia f, insānia f, insānitās f, vēcordia f, dēmentia f
• Latvian: ārprāts m, vājprāts m, trakums m
• Lithuanian: beprotybė f, pamišimas m
• Macedonian: лудило n (ludilo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sinnssykdom (no) m, galskap (no) m

• Old English: wōdnes f
• Persian: دیوانگی‎ (fa) (divânegi)
• Plautdietsch: Wonsenn m
• Polish: obłęd (pl), niepoczytalność (pl) f
• Portuguese: insanidade f, loucura (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਪਾਗਲਪਣ m (pāglapaṇ)
• Romanian: nebunie (ro) f, insanitate (ro) f, demență (ro) f, alienație mintală (ro) f,, alienare mintală (ro) f
• Russian: безу́мие (ru) n (bezúmije), сумасше́ствие (ru) n (sumasšéstvije), помеша́тельство (ru) n (pomešátelʹstvo), умопомраче́ние (ru) n (umopomračénije) (temporary)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лу̏дост f, лу̀дило n

  Roman: lȕdost (sh) f, lùdilo (sh) n

• Slovak: šialenstvo n
• Slovene: norost (sl) n
• Spanish: locura (es) f, insania (es), vesania (es)
• Swedish: galenskap (sv) c, vansinne (sv) n
• Tagalog: kabaliwan
• Tajik: девонагӣ (devonagī)
• Telugu: పిచ్చి (te) (picci)
• Turkish: delılıq
• Ukrainian: божеві́лля (uk) n (boževíllja)
• Vietnamese: tính trạng điên
• Welsh: gorffwylltra