palsy

English

Etymology 1

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/

Noun

palsy (countable and uncountable, plural palsies)

1. (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

   • 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.

Synonyms

• paralysis

Derived terms

• Bell's palsy
• cerebral palsy
• Erb's palsy

 

Translations

complete or partial muscle paralysis of a body part

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 麻痺／麻痹 (zh) (mábì), 麻痹 (zh) (mábì), 癱瘓／瘫痪 (zh) (tānhuàn), 瘫痪 (zh) (tānhuàn)

• Czech: obrna f
• Dutch: verlamming (nl) f
• Finnish: halvaus (fi), pareesi
• French: paralysie (fr) f
• German: Lähmung (de) f
• Greek: παράλυση (el) f (parálysi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: lömun (is) f
• Italian: paralisi (it) f
• Norwegian: paralyse m (literally)
• Russian: парали́ч (ru) m (paralíč)
• Spanish: parálisis f
• Telugu: పక్షవాతము (te) (pakṣavātamu)
• Turkish: felç (tr)

Verb

palsy (third-person singular simple present palsies, present participle palsying, simple past and past participle palsied)

1. To paralyse, either completely or partially.
   • 1831, William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, To The Public [1]

     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, The Last Man, volume 2, chapter 9

     Its streets were blocked up with snow - the few passengers seemed palsied with snow, and frozen by the ungenial visitation of winter.

Etymology 2

From pals +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpælzi/

Adjective

palsy (comparative more palsy, superlative most palsy)

1. (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

• plays, splay, spyal