paralyze

English

Alternative forms

• paralyse (British standard spelling)

Etymology

Partly a borrowing from French. Probably partly either (i) formed within English, by derivation. Or partly (ii) a borrowing from French, combined with an English element. Etymons: Middle English paralysie, -ize suffix; French paralyser.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəlaɪz/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəˌlaɪz/
• (General American, Canada, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹəˌlaɪz/

  • Audio (non-native):

    (file)

• (Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹəlɑez/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹəlaɪz/, [ˈpɛɹəlɑez]

Verb

paralyze (third-person singular simple present paralyzes, present participle paralyzing, simple past and past participle paralyzed)

1. (transitive) To afflict with paralysis.
2. (transitive) To render unable to move; to immobilize.
   • 2006, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead”, in An Even Scarier Solstice:

     So I stood alone in horror / Paralyzed with fear and dread / When a voice dead and inhuman / Whispered to me "go, you fool, Warren's dead!"

3. (transitive) To render unable to function properly.

   The transport strike paralyzed the city.

Derived terms

• paralyzation
• paralyzer

Translations

to afflict with paralysis

• Arabic: أَشَلَّ (ʔašalla)
• Azerbaijani: iflic etmək
• Belarusian: паралізава́ць impf or pf (paralizavácʹ)
• Bulgarian: парализи́рам (bg) impf or pf (paralizíram)
• Catalan: paralitzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 麻痺 / 麻痹 (zh) (mábì) (be paralysed)

• Czech: ochromit (cs) pf, paralyzovat impf
• Dutch: verlammen (nl)
• Esperanto: paralizi
• Finnish: halvaannuttaa (fi)
• French: paralyser (fr)
• Galician: paralizar (gl), entanguiñar
• German: paralysieren (de), lähmen (de)
• Greek: παραλύω (el) (paralýo)
• Hebrew: שִׁיתֵּק (shiték)
• Hungarian: megbénít (hu)
• Italian: paralizzare (it)
• Japanese: 麻痺する (まひする, mahi suru) (be paralysed)
• Māori: mae (with fear or shock), pararūtiki, pararaiha
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: саа дайрах (saa dajrax) (be paralysed)

  Mongolian script: ᠰᠠ
  ᠳᠠᠭᠠᠷᠢᠬᠤ (sa daɣariqu)

• Occitan: paralisar (oc)
• Polish: paraliżować (pl) impf, sparaliżować (pl) pf
• Portuguese: paralisar (pt)
• Romanian: paraliza (ro)
• Russian: парализова́ть (ru) impf or pf (paralizovátʹ)
• Spanish: paralizar (es)
• Swedish: förlama (sv)
• Ukrainian: паралізува́ти impf or pf (paralizuváty)