opisthotonos
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Latin opisthotonus, and its source, Ancient Greek ὀπισθότονος (opisthótonos), corresponding to opistho- + tonus (“muscle tension”).
Noun
editopisthotonos (uncountable)
- (medicine) Sustained tetanic spasm in which the body is bent backwards and stiffened, as produced by various diseases. [from 16th c.]
- 1786 August 16, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana:
- [T]he Actors struggled & bounced, and sprunted as if in Convulsions; like Patients under the Influence of a Disease called in Jamaica the Opisthotonos or dry Gripes […] .