ˈepəˌlepsē, -si noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle French epilepsie, from Late Latin epilepsia, from Greek epilēpsia, from epilēptos (verbal of epilambanein to seize, attack, from epi- + lambanein to take, seize) + -ia -y — more at latch
: a chronic nervous disorder of man and other animals that involves changes in the state of consciousness and of motion and that is due either to an inborn defect which produces convulsions of greater or lesser severity with clouding of consciousness or to an organic lesion of the brain produced by tumor, injury, toxic agents, or glandular disturbances — see grand mal , petit mal ; jacksonian epilepsy