hyperchromatopsia

Meanings

1. An early term for a type of synesthesia; perception of too many colors at once.

Etymology

In 1848, French physician Dr. Charles-Auguste-Édouard Cornaz became the first person to give a name to the condition of synesthesia, at the time naming it hyperchromatopsie (perception de trop de couleurs or hyperchromatopsia (perception of too many colors), because Cornaz viewed the condition as opposite to another known condition of "chromatodysopsie" (or chromatodysopsia, color blindness). This term served as a precursor to what would become hyperesthesia. Dr. Cordaz's term fell out of favor after French physician Dr. Ernest Chabalier coined the term pseudochromesthésie (or pseudochromesthesia), eventually evolving into synesthesia.