dementia praecox

See also: dementia præcox

English

Alternative forms

• dementia præcox (obsolete)
• dementia precox

Etymology

A Latin phrase coined by Arnold Pick in 1891, first used in German and later adopted into English. From the Latin dēmentia (“madness; insanity”) +‎ praecox (“premature; untimely”, whence English precocious), together meaning “untimely madness” or “premature dementia”. Here, dēmentia carries the connotation of senile dementia.

Noun

dementia praecox (usually uncountable, plural dementiae praecoces)

1. (dated, psychiatry) schizophrenia

Translations

dated psychiatric diagnosis

• Russian: деме́нция пре́кокс (ru) (deméncija prékoks), ра́ннее слабоу́мие (ru) (ránneje slaboúmije)