Dysnomia
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Anomic aphasia, a condition affecting the memory that impairs the recall of words or names. countable, uncountable
"2013, Annette Kujawski Taylor, Dysnomia, entry in Annette Kujawski Taylor (editor), Encyclopedia of Human Memory, ABC-CLIO (Greenwood), page 404, Dysnomia is a disorder in which a person has difficulty naming people or objects. Some sources consider it a milder form of anomia, which is a type of aphasia, or disorder of language. Dysnomia seems to be more clearly memory related and specifically related to a retrieval deficit. Presented with an object, most people who suffer from dysnomia can describe the object, talk about how it can be used, and what category of objects it falls into. However, they are unable to come up with the name for it."
- 2 Impaired or deficient ability to recall words or names. countable, uncountable
"Dysnomia refers to a large group of children who talk and understand well but have difficulty with word retrieval.[…]Dysnomia is a well-established antecedent to stuttering or stammering."
- 3 An incident of a person not recalling a word or name. countable
"1977, J. Gordon Millichap (editor), Learning Disabilities and Related Disorders, Year Book Medical Publishers, page 49, Though we have no statistical data to back it up, our impression has been that medication prescribed for a child's behavioral problems, or for seizure control, sometimes have a stabilizing effect on these episodic dysnomias."
- 1 The daemon (minor deity) of lawlessness, listed by Hesiod among the daughters of Eris. Greek
- 2 The only known moon of the dwarf planet Eris.
Example
More examples"Eris was named after the goddess of strife. Its moon, Dysnomia, was named after the daughter of Eris."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Δυσνομία (Dusnomía, literally “lawlessness”), from δύσνομος (dúsnomos, “lawless”).
Related phrases
More for "dysnomia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.