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Paroxysm
Definitions
- 1 A period (especially one of several recurring periods) during the course of an illness when symptoms worsen; a sudden attack of a disease symptom, such as a bout of coughing or a seizure. countable
"Againe; I feare a paroxiſme."
- 2 a sudden uncontrollable attack wordnet
- 3 Chiefly followed by of: a sudden outburst of violent activity or feeling; also, the most severe part of an activity or incident; the climax. broadly, countable
"[H]ere vve may take occaſion, to mention the miſerable condition of the Iſraelites in Egypt, during vvhich time, vvoefull their ſlavery, if vve conſider, the […] Long continuance thereof, tvvo hundred and odde years in the latitude, and fourſcore (from the birth of Moſes) in the Paroxyſme of their bondage."
- 4 An outburst of a violent argument or disagreement. archaic, broadly, countable
"But the greateſt contention happening here, vvas that Paroxyſme betvvixt Paul and Barnabas, the one as earneſtly refuſing, as the other deſiring the company of John Mark to goe along vvith them."
- 5 A violent occurrence of a natural phenomenon, such as an earthquake, thunderstorm, or volcanic eruption; specifically (volcanology), the most explosive event during a series of volcanic eruptions. broadly, countable
"[T]he Storm had ſeven Paroxyſms or Exacerbations, vvhich the Seamen call Frights of VVeather, […]"
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- 6 Disastrous or sudden change. broadly, rare, uncountable
"It is manifest that the species themselves are but transmutations of one or a few primordial types, and that they have been created not by paroxysm, but by evolution."
Etymology
From Late Middle English paroxism, paroxisme (“period of worsening of a disease, attack; sudden recurrent fever”), from Middle French paroxisme, paroxysme, and Old French peroxime (“period of worsening of a disease; bout of fever or illness”) (modern French paroxysme), and from their etymon Late Latin paroxismus, paroxysmus (“a fit; onset of a disease; violent impulse or sadness”), from Ancient Greek πᾰροξῠσμός (păroxŭsmós, “exasperation, irritation; severe fit of a disease”), from πᾰροξῡ́νω (păroxū́nō, “to irritate, provoke”) (from παρα- (para-, prefix meaning ‘parallel to but separate from or going beyond, beside’) + ὀξῡ́νω (oxū́nō, “to provoke; to sharpen”) (from ὀξῠ́ς (oxŭ́s, “sharp”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”))) + -μός (-mós, suffix forming abstract nouns). By surface analysis, para- + oxy- + -ism.
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