noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A series of involuntary writhing movements of the limbs, typically bilateral and symmetric and predominantly affecting the distal parts of the limbs. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   a continuous succession of slow, writhing, involuntary movements of the hands and feet and other body parts wordnet

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄθετος (áthetos, “not fixed”), itself from τίθημι (títhēmi), + -osis.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.