‖ paresis
(ˈpærɪsɪs)
[mod.L., a. Gr. πάρεσις letting go, slackening of strength, paralysis, f. παριέναι to let go, let fall, relax, etc., f. παρα- by + ἱέναι to let go.]
1. Path. Partial or incomplete paralysis, paralysis affecting muscular motion but not sensation. general paresis, a term used by some for progressive paralysis of the insane.
| 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed 2), Paresis, a sort of Palsie. 1790 J. C. Smyth in Med. Commun. II. 491 He had..been subject to..paresis or palsy. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 144 The paresis of the olfactory nerves. 1867 Flint Princ. & Pract. Med. 645. 1874 Roosa Dis. Ear 108 The form of insanity was general paresis in eight cases. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 301 There was paresis of the left side of the face, paresis of the arm, and complete paralysis of the hand and foot. |
| fig. 1896 Howells Impressions & Exp. 208 The slowly-creeping desolation, the gradual paresis, that was seizing upon the late full and happy life of our hotel. |
2. The ‘letting go’ or ‘dropping’ of elements of a word.
| 1885 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. App. p. xxxi, He [the Negro] has simply taken the principle of paresis, or word-neglect,—a principle by which maculate becomes mote (a spot)—and worked it out to its ultimate consequences. |
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Delete general paresis, sense 1 in Dict., and add: [1.] b. In full general paresis. Chronic inflammation of the brain and meninges, occurring in tertiary syphilis and characterized by progressive dementia and generalized paralysis; = general paralysis of the insane s.v. paralysis n. 1 b.
| 1862 W. D. Moore tr. E. Salomon in Jrnl. Mental Sci. VIII. 365 General paresis, paresifying mental Disease, or in Latin paresis generalis..are terms applied to the form of mental disease generally known under the French denomination of paralysie générale. [Note] ‘Paralysie générale’ is a singularly inappropriate term; for he who is generally paralysed is certainly dead, and not living. Ibid. 366 General paresis occupies a prominent place among affections of the mind. 1874 Roosa Dis. Ear108 The form of insanity was general paresis in eight cases. 1883 Buffalo Med. & Surg. Jrnl. XXII. 537 (heading) Paresis, or general paralysis of the insane. Ibid. 539 Paresis is divided into stages, but as it is a progressive disease, these are not always well marked. 1913 Jrnl. Exper. Med. XVII. 232 The relationship of paresis to syphilis has, for years, been one of the foremost topics of medical interest... There are some who contend that paresis is nothing more nor less than a particular form of tertiary syphilis. 1974 V. Nabokov Look at Harlequins (1975) vii. i. 239 During three weeks of general paresis..I have gained some experience. 1985 L. Kennedy Airman & Carpenter 409 Reilly entered a mental hospital..suffering from paresis, an untreated syphilitic condition. 1988 New Scientist 24 Mar. 59/1 AIDS dementia is very unlike ‘general paresis of the insane’. |