English Explanatory Dictionary

autism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A pervasive neurological condition that is observable in early childhood and persists throughout the lifespan, characterised by atypical communication patterns (e.g., differences in body language or eye contact), delayed language development, and sensory processing sensitivities.
  2. Synonym of autism spectrum; a range of disorders.
  3. A diagnosis involving a pathological tendency to engage in self-centered fantasy thinking, historically considered a symptom of insanity or schizophrenia.
  4. Abnormal and unhealthy focus or persistence, stereotypically coupled with low self-awareness and unhealthy hatred of opposition or criticism.
  5. Deliberate misspelling of autumn.

Pronunciation

ôʹtĭzəm /ˈɔːtɪzəm/ En-uk-autism.ogg /ˈoːtɪzəm/ /ˈɔtɪzəm/ /ˈɑtɪzəm/ En-US-autism.wav

Word forms

autism autisms

Etymology

Borrowed from German Autismus, coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, first usage dated to 1907 attributed by Carl Jung as an alternative of his for "auto-erotism", although Bleuler himself differentiates the terms in his book Dementia Praecox, first published 1911. From Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + -ισμός (-ismós, “-ism”).

Synonyms

autism spectrum autistic spectrum

Related words

pervasive developmental disorder PDD-NOS disability handicap mutism selective mutism special education schizothymia schizoid personality disorder schizotypal personality disorder homophobia

Derived words

atypical autism AuDHD autismal autism creature autismland autism mom autism spectrum autism spectrum condition autism spectrum disorder autist autistic autistic spectrum autistic spectrum disorder childhood autism classic autism digital autism early infantile autism high-functioning autism infantile autism low-functioning autism tautism 'tism virtual autism

Translations

Afrikaans: outisme Arabic: تَوَحُّد Arabic: مَرَض التَّوَحُّد Armenian: աուտիզմ Azerbaijani: autizm Basque: autismo Bengali: অটিজম Breton: aotism Bulgarian: аути́зъм Burmese: အော်တစ်ဇင် Catalan: autisme Chinese Mandarin: 自閉症 /自闭症 Chinese Mandarin: 孤獨症 /孤独症 Corsican: autismu Czech: autismus Danish: autisme Dutch: autisme Dzongkha: སེམས་ནད Esperanto: aŭtismo Estonian: autism Faroese: autisma Finnish: autismi French: autisme West-Frisian: autisme Galician: autismo Georgian: აუტიზმი German: Autismus Greek: αυτισμός Hebrew: אוטיזם Hindi: स्वलीनता Hungarian: autizmus Icelandic: einhverfa Icelandic: sjálfhverfa Ido: autismo Indonesian: autisme Interlingua: autismo Irish: uathachas Italian: autismo Japanese: 自閉症 Kazakh: аутизм Khmer: អូទីស្សឹម Korean: 자폐증 Latin: autismus
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on A Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary