epileptic, a. and n.
(ɛpɪˈlɛptɪk)
Also 7 epileptique, -ticke. See also epilentic.
[a. F. épileptique, ad. L. epilēpticus, a. Gr. ἐπιληπτικός, f. ἐπιλαµβάνειν (see prec.).]
A. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to epilepsy; of the nature of epilepsy.
| 1608 L. Machin Dumbe Knight iii, But Ile forestall thine Epileptique fits, And by my plots breed thy destruction. 1651 Biggs New Disp. 190 ¶592 The epileptick fumes shall come that way out of the brain. 1794–6 E. Darwin Zoon. I. 325 It appears..that reverie is a disease of the Epileptic or Cataleptic kind. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., Pass. in Life H. Harris A formidable epileptic attack. 1878 A. Hamilton Nerv. Dis. 103 Epileptic coma can hardly be mistaken for that of cerebral hemorrhage. 1889 F. Clark Papers on Surg., He had two epileptic fits. |
2. Affected with epilepsy.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 87 A plague vpon your Epilepticke visage. 1655 Jer. Taylor Of Repentance vi. §7 An epileptick son doth often come from an epileptick father. 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 81 Till through his epileptic mouth Those following speeches fierce and loud Burst out. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 335 In Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, millions of children become epileptic from the breast. 1875 B. Richardson Dis. Mod. Life 44 In the olden times..to be epileptic or insane was, to be possessed of an evil spirit. |
B. n.
1. An epileptic person. Cf. A. 2.
| 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxiv. 211 Epileptiques..they esteemed..Dæmoniaques. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet (R), Epilepticks ought to breathe a pure air. 1864 Reader No. 94. 485/1 Epileptics and idiots. |
2. In pl. Medicines given to cure or mitigate epilepsy.
| 1721 in Bailey; and in mod. Dicts. |