Dictionary

aphasia en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈfeɪʒə/
• /əˈfeɪzɪə/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From French aphasie, from Ancient Greek ἀφασία (aphasía), from ἄφατος (áphatos, “speechless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + φάσις (phásis, “speech”). Equivalent to a- + -phasia.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A partial or total loss of language skills due to brain damage. Usually, damage to the left perisylvian region, including Broca's area and Wernicke's area, causes aphasia.
   • The very disease aphasia is to most of us a new one; and we venture to say that even yet no one can give a satisfactory definition of Trousseau's new term. 1865, “Discussions upon Aphasia”, in Medical and Surgical Reporter, volume 8, page 197:
   • Bruce Willis, the prolific action-movie star, has been diagnosed with aphasia — a disorder that affects the brain’s language center and a person’s ability to understand or express speech — and will step away from acting, his ex-wife, Demi Moore, announced in an Instagram post on Wednesday. 2022 March 30, Maya Salam, “Bruce Willis Has Aphasia and Is ‘Stepping Away’ From His Career”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • The Doctor came over in three minutes, and heard the story. ‘It's aphasia,’ he said. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Conversion of Aurelian McGoggin”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 76:
   • Of one form of aphasia we have an accurate description by Van Swieten, in his chapter on apoplexia:―"Vidi plures, qui ab apoplexiâ curati omnibus functionibus cerebri recte valebant, nisi quod deesset, hoc unicum, quod non possent vera rebus designandis vocabula invenire." 1865, J. T. Banks, “On the Loss of Language in Cerebral Disease”, in Dublin quarterly journal of medical science, volume 39, page 63:

Forms

Deriveds

expressive aphasia · jargonaphasia · jargon aphasia · Broca's aphasia · motor aphasia · receptive aphasia · paraphasia · agrammatic aphasia · aphasiac · aphasiology · aphasic · nominal aphasia · Wernicke's aphasia

Relateds

monophasia · specific language impairment · auditory processing disorder · word salad

Translations (35)

el αφασία (pathological speech disorder) · ca afàsia (pathological speech disorder) · ka აფაზია (pathological speech disorder) · de Aphasie (pathological speech disorder) · ja 失語症 (pathological speech disorder) · hy աֆազիա (pathological speech disorder) · fr aphasie (pathological speech disorder) · fo málloysi (pathological speech disorder) · ga afáise (pathological speech disorder) · fi afasia (pathological speech disorder) · gl afasia (pathological speech disorder) · no afasi (pathological speech disorder) · es afasia (pathological speech disorder) · io afazio (pathological speech disorder) · is málstol (pathological speech disorder) · ru афа́зия (pathological speech disorder) · hy անխոսություն (pathological speech disorder) · eo afazio (pathological speech disorder) · cs afázie (pathological speech disorder) · af spraakverlies (pathological speech disorder) · aa karruc (pathological speech disorder) · pl afazja (pathological speech disorder) · it afemia (pathological speech disorder) · da afasi (pathological speech disorder) · sv afasi (pathological speech disorder) · nl afasie (pathological speech disorder) · af afasie (pathological speech disorder) · hu afázia (pathological speech disorder) · ko 실어증 (pathological speech disorder) · pt afasia (pathological speech disorder) · ia aphasia (pathological speech disorder) · et afaasia (pathological speech disorder) · cmn 失語症 /失语症 (pathological speech disorder) · it afasia (pathological speech disorder) · vi á khẩu (pathological speech disorder)