‖ paraplegia Path.
(pærəˈpliːdʒɪə)
[mod.L., a. Gr. παραπληγία = παραπληξία a stroke on one side, hemiplegia, f. παραπλήσσ-ειν to strike at the side, f. παρα- beside, aside + πλήσσειν to strike.]
Paralysis of the lower limbs and a part or the whole of the trunk, resulting from an affection of some part of the spinal cord.
| 1657 Physical Dict., Paraplegia, the same with paralysis. 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Paraplegia, a Palsy which seizeth all the parts of the Body below the Head. 1802 Eng. Encycl. VI. 9/1 When it [palsy] happens to all the parts below the head, or to the lower half of the body, it is called paraplegia. 1869 Geo. Eliot in Cross Life III. 102 He had an attack of paraplegia. |