English Explanatory Dictionary

ilinx

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A form of play that creates a temporary disruption of perception, for example by inducing vertigo, dizziness, disorientation, or frenzy.
  2. The sensation or altered state of consciousness that is so created, called by sociologist Roger Caillois, the “strange excitement” of wanton destruction.

Word forms

ilinx

Etymology

Via French from Ancient Greek ἶλιγξ (îlinx, “whirlpool; dizziness”), coined by French sociologist Roger Caillois in 1958.

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