petit mal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French petit mal (literally “little illness”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛti ˈmal/

Noun

petit mal (uncountable)

1. (neurology) A form of epilepsy where the seizures are characterized as minor, the person becomes vacant or unaware, but not involving spasms and unconsciousness. These seizures are usually brief, lasting up to 30 seconds, and may include twitching. A formal medical term would be absence seizures.

   Coordinate term: grand mal

   • 2010, Carol Turkington; Joseph Harris, The Encyclopedia of the Brain and Brain Disorders, third edition, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 289:

     Petit mal seizures are also known as absence seizures, which cause a loss of consciousness that is usually brief and barely noticeable. The neurons in a normal brain communicate by firing tiny electric signals.

Translations

form of epilepsy

• Catalan: petit mal (ca) m
• Danish: petit mal n, absence (da) c
• Finnish: pieni kohtaus
• Russian: ма́лый эпилепти́ческий припа́док m (mályj epileptíčeskij pripádok)

Anagrams

• malpitte

Danish

Etymology

From French petit mal.

Noun

petit mal n

1. (medicine) petit mal

Synonyms

• absence

References

• “petit mal” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pə.ti mal/

Noun

petit mal m (uncountable)

1. (medicine) petit mal

   Coordinate term: grand mal

Descendants

• → Danish: petit mal
• → English: petit mal