▪ I. palsy, n.1 (a.1)
(ˈpɔːlzɪ)
Forms: α. 3–6 parlesie, -esi, 3–5 parlasy, 4–5 parlesy(e, perlesy, 5 parlsy, perlocy. β. 3–4 palasie, 4 -asye, -acye, -esy, pallesye, 4–5 palesye, -sie, palasy, 5 pallesie, palysy. γ. 4–5 palsye, 4–8 palsie, palsey, (5 pallsay, 6 pawsey), 4– palsy. See also paralysie.
[ME. a. OF. paralisie, -lysie (12–13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. Romanic type *paralysia (cf. It. paralisia, Pg. paralysia, Sp. perlesia), for L. paralysis, Gr. παράλυσις, acc. -λυσιν, whence also OF. paralisin, palacin, palazine (Littré), OE. paralisin; cf. paralysis.]
A. n.
1. a. A disease of the nervous system, characterized by impairment or suspension of muscular action or sensation, esp. of voluntary motion, and, in some forms, by involuntary tremors of the limbs; paralysis.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 19048 (Edin.) A man was criplid in parlesie [Cott., Gött. parlesi, Trin. palesy, Laud palsy]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2996 Som for ire sal have als þe parlesy. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 76 Lightly he rynnys yn-to perlesy. 1483 Cath. Angl. 269/2 Þe Parlesy (A. Parlsy), paralysis. c 1500 Rowlis Cursing 46 in Laing Anc. Poet. Scot., Appostrum or the perlocy. a 1510 Douglas K. Hart 455 Heidwerk, Hoist, and Parlasy. 1580 J. Hay in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 69 Miracolouslie delyveret from ane Parlesie. |
| β c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 16/514 Four men of strongue palasie heore hele huy hadden. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11922 A lymme þat ys dede or drye Þurghe sykenes, or smete yn pallesye. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 61 As pale as a pelet, In a palesye [B. v. 78 palsye, palacye] he seemede. 1382 Wyclif Mark ii. 10 He seith to the sike man in palasie..ryse vp, take thi bed. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3735 A Romayn, smyten with þe pallesie. |
| γ 13.. Cursor M. 11817 (Gött.) Þe palsy [Cott. parlesi; Trin. palesy] has his a side. 1382 Wyclif Matt. ix. 2 The man sike in palsie. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 708/32 Hec paralisis, pallsay. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 26 b, Rosemarye..helpeth agaynst palseys. 1552 Huloet, Pawsye. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 35 The shaking Palsey, and Saint Fraunces fire. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 70 To be drunk by those that have the Palsie. 1757 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 V. 360, I never knew any advantage from electricity in palsies, that was permanent. 1813 M. Edgeworth Patronage (1833) I. x. 164 The paralytic incumbent..had just at this time another stroke of the palsy. 1843 Sir T. Watson Lect. Princ. Physic xxxi. I. 528 That species of palsy which is called hemiplegia. 1860 Thackeray Round. Papers, Carp at Sans Souci, Having to lie out at night she got a palsy which has incapacitated her from all further labour. |
b. With defining words: Bell's palsy, paralysis of the facial nerve; cerebral palsy, any of various non-progressive forms of paralysis caused by damage to motor areas of the brain before or during birth, manifested in early childhood by weakness and imperfect control of the affected muscles; hence cerebral-palsied a., affected with cerebral palsy; also absol.; creeping p., gradually growing paralysis; crossed p., paralysis affecting the upper limb of one side and the lower of the other; crutch-p., paralysis of the arm caused by the pressure of a crutch; diver's palsy, paralysis of the heart caused by diving; lead-p., mercurial-p., that induced by lead or mercurial poisoning; scrivener's p. = writer's cramp, see writer; shaking p., tremulous paralysis in the aged; transverse p. = crossed palsy. Also dead palsy.
| 1858 Copland Dict. Pract. Med. III i. 15/1 When the upper limb of one side, and the lower of the opposite side is affected, the palsy is usually called transverse or crossed palsy. [1888 Lancet 14 Apr. 709/1 There are two classes of birth palsies, the ‘peripheral’ and the ‘cerebral’.] 1889 W. Osler Cerebral Palsies of Children i. 2 The cases are usually arranged under the generic terms cerebral palsies—the German Cerebrale Kinderlähmung—or spastic palsies, while the specific designation indicates the distribution of the paralysis, whether unilateral, bilateral, or paraplegic. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 22 Nov. 8/1 A man engaged in sinking an artesian well at Merton Abbey has been killed by ‘diver's palsy’—paralysis of the heart caused by the change from high air pressure at a depth of 105 ft. to normal pressure. 1940 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 14 Dec. 2119/1 Treatment depends on..the particular kind of cerebral palsy: spastic, athetoid or ataxic. 1955 Lancet 15 Jan. 146/1 Cerebral palsies may occur in mentally normal and in mentally deficient subjects. 1961 Ibid. 19 Aug. 433/2 The Pædiatric Research Unit..is contributing to the study of..the special psychological problems of learning in cerebral-palsied children. 1973 Times 30 Oct. 2/7 Buildings and land housing St Margaret's School, Croydon, which provides specifically for the cerebral palsied, were leased rent-free to the school by two sisters. 1974 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. ii. xxxvi. 9/1 Many children with mild cerebral palsy require no medical treatment and, if they are of average intelligence, should be considered as normal children, though allowances may have to be made. |
2. fig. a. Any influence which destroys, or seriously impairs, activity or sensibility; a condition of utter powerlessness; an irresistible tremor.
| 1433 Lydg. S. Edmund iii. 90 Hand and penne quake for verray dreed..Of which palysy, but grace be my leche,..I not who shal me teche. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iv, I will live, Onely to numme some others cursed bloode With the dead palsie of like misery. 1652 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples ii. 150 The next morning the City had a hot good morrow given her by the Castles, that put her in a palsie for a great while. 1791 Paine Rights of Man (ed. 4) 35 Is the calmness of philosophy, or the palsy of insensibility, to be looked for? 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. ii. 28 So thoroughly does the region now lie under the palsy of Mohammedanism. |
b. gentleman's palsy: used allusively in reference to the shaking of the dice-box. nonce-use.
| 1608 Yorksh. Trag. i. iv, To..draw thrice three thousand acres into the compass of a little round table, and with the gentleman's palsy in the hand shake out his posterity, thieves or beggars. |
† 3. A palsied person, a paralytic. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18543 (Cott.) To parlesi [Trin. palesie] and to mesele, And to þe wode, gifand þair hele. 1483 Cath. Angl. 269/2 Þe Parlesy, (A. Parlsy)..paraliticus qui habet..infirmitatem. 1526 R. Whitford Martiloge (1893) 14 He heled y⊇ blynde & defe, lepres & palseys. |
† B. adj. (always attrib., and app. attrib. use of n.: cf. C.) Affected with palsy, palsied. Also fig. Obs.
| 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. ii. xlvi. (1608) 116 This hearb eaten doth strengthen the palsie members. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 22 A palsie man will fall down if he taste of the perfume made of the hairs of an asse or mule. 1635 Swan Spec. M. vii. §3 (1643) 350 With what a palsie pace [winter]..cometh. 1703 Kelsey Serm. 297 Aged Men, whose Palsy Heads and fainting Powers are [etc.]. |
C. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. of or of the nature of palsy, as † palsy-evil, † palsy-pine, palsy-stroke; used to cure palsy, as palsy drop, palsy pill, palsy water; b. instrumental, as palsy-quaking, palsy-shaken, palsy-shaking, palsy-sick, palsy-stricken, palsy-struck adjs., palsy-strike vb. c. Also palsy-like adj.
| 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 92/116 Mony he heled in þat tyme Þat weren in þe palesy pyne. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. vii. (Skeat) l. 40 Me thinketh the palse yuel hath acomered thy wittes. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xvi. (1887) 73 Some palsilike trembling from the legges. 1592 Sylvester Tri. Faith iv. xi, By Faith, Saint Peter likewise did restore A Palsie-sick. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 174 With a palsie fumbling on his Gorget. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To friend on untuneable Times, Griefe..has..Wither'd my hand, and palsie-struck my tongue. 1710–11 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 91 Bid him tell you all about the bottle of palsey water by Smyth. 1744 Mrs. Delany Autobiog. & Corr. (1861) II. 293 Cannot you prevail with her to take palsy drops? 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xlii, Angela the old Died palsy-twitch'd. a 1837 Campbell Dead Eagle 68 A palsy-stroke of Nature shook Oran. |
▪ II. palsy, n.2 (a.2) slang.
(ˈpælzɪ)
Also palsie and in extended forms palsy-walsy, palsie-walsie, palsey-walsey.
[f. pal n.1 + -sy.]
A. n. A friend, a ‘pal’; a form of (ostensibly) friendly address.
| 1930 Amer. Speech Dec. 82 Call me Palsy. 1937 J. Curtis There ain't no Justice xxvi. 287 What are you having, palsy-walsy? 1941 H. Smith Gang's All Here 266 There was nothing to do but I must go along with them. I even went into SRO with them. Talk about palsy-walsies! 1945 P. Cheyney I'll say she Does i. 18 How come, palsie? 1945 E. Wilson I am gazing into my 8-Ball 118 Ratoff appealed to him. ‘Look, palsy,’ he said, ‘whawt time I wawz in your house this morning?’ 1962 Coast to Coast 1961–62 25 ‘Well, well, if it's not my old palsie-walsie Bert,’ one of the detectives said. 1966 ‘W. Haggard’ Power House x. 111 There was nothing quite so expendable as dear old palsy-walsies who had by now outgrown their usefulness. |
B. adj. Friendly, ‘pally’. So ˈpalsy-ˌwalsiness.
| 1947 Philadelphia Bull. 17 Feb. 8/3 Army planes will drop on them pictures of General MacArthur and Hirohito in palsey-walsey attitudes, to convince them that hostilities have ceased. 1957 ‘P. Quentin’ Suspicious Circ. vii. 75 What if all that revolting Daddy Long Legs palsy-walsiness had been fake? 1959 ‘J. R. Macdonald’ Galton Case (1960) xviii. 149 Him and Pete were palsy-walsy. 1962 Brown & Gilman in J. A. Fishman Readings Sociol. of Lang. (1968) 268 Very ‘palsy’ parents may invite their children to call them by first name. 1963 Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves xiii. 101 What do you call it when a couple of nations start off by being all palsy walsy and then begin calling each other ticks and bounders? 1969 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 11 Apr. 41/4 The New York police and I are not too palsy right now. 1974 Wodehouse Aunts aren't Gentlemen vii. 56 Being a Communist, he was probably on palsy-walsy terms with half the big shots at the Kremlin. 1977 J. Wainwright Pool of Tears 218 He's one of those matey types... Very palsy-walsy. |
▪ III. ˈpalsy, v.
[f. palsy n.1]
1. trans. To affect with palsy, to paralyse. Chiefly fig. To render powerless or inert.
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. xviii. 558 Ask'd, if overcome With wine he were, or,..were palsied In his mind's instruments. 1795 Southey Vis. Maid Orleans i. 283 Two Gouls came on, of form more fearful-foul Than ever palsied in her wildest dream Hag-ridden Superstition. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. Introd. (1846) 9 These circumstances so far palsied the arm of the Christians. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 24 It lames and palsies his utterance. |
2. intr. To shake or tremble as if palsied (nonce-use); to become palsied (rare): cf. palsying b.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 63 With menacing becking thee branches palsye beforetyme [L. tremefacta comam concusso vertice nutat]. 1834, 1849 [see palsying b]. |