lethargy
English
editWOTD – 26 July 2011, 26 July 2012, 26 July 2013, 26 July 2014, 26 July 2015
Etymology
editFrom Middle English litargie, from Medieval Latin litargia, from Late Latin lēthārgia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ληθᾱργῐ́ᾱ (lēthārgĭ́ā, “drowsiness”), from λήθᾱργος (lḗthārgos, “forgetful, lethargic”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, adjectival suffix).
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈlɛθ.ə(ɹ).d͡ʒi/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
editlethargy (countable and uncountable, plural lethargies)
- A state of extreme torpor, sopor or apathy, especially with lack of emotion, energy or enthusiasm; (loosely) sluggishness, laziness. [from 14th c.]
- 1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation at Oxford[1], page 42:
- Europe lay then under a deep lethargy.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 285:
- Gradually the darkened room seems to emerge from its shadows; familiar objects strike upon the senses—and memory is never so terribly distinct as on its first reviving from such momentary lethargy.
- 1959 March, D. Bertram, “An old friend - the 9.7”, in Trains Illustrated, page 141:
- As already indicated, timekeeping is very poor. Point-to-point times are not kept, even with a clear road, and whilst fast running has never been a feature of the route because of the large number of junctions and speed restrictions, this Sunday night lethargy is hard to explain.
- 2008 May 9, Nick Fletcher, “Lethargic FTSE lifted by hopes of mining move”, in The Guardian[3]:
- The increase in mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 shake off some earlier lethargy and close 9.8 points higher at 6270.8, despite the disappointment of unchanged UK interest rates.
- (pathology) A condition characterized by extreme fatigue or drowsiness, deep unresponsiveness, or prolonged sleep patterns. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1599, William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2:
- This Apoplexie is (as I take it) a kind of Lethargie, a sleeping of the blood, a horson Tingling.
- 2003 October 20, Amanda Ripley, “At Last, the Pill for Men”, in Time[4]:
- So in order to avoid unpleasant side effects like lethargy and sexual dysfunction, most recent trials also gave men testosterone supplements.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editstate of extreme torpor or apathy
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pathological state of fatigue
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References
edit- “lethargy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “lethargy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leh₂- (concealed)
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *werǵ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
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- en:Pathology
- en:Emotions
- English terms suffixed with -y