Etymology
First attested 1908, from New Latin schizophrenia, from German Schizophrenie, coined by Eugen Bleuler, from Ancient Greek σχίζω or skhízō (to split) + φρήν or phrḗn (mind, heart, diaphragm) + English -ia.
Noun
schizophrenia (countable and uncountable, plural schizophrenias)
- (pathology) A psychiatric diagnosis denoting a persistent, often chronic, mental illness characterized by abnormal perception, thinking, behavior, and emotion, often marked by delusions.
Usage notes
In popular usage, the term is often confused with dissociative identity disorder (also known as multiple personality disorder).
Derived terms
- antischizophrenia
- borderline schizophrenia
- catatonic schizophrenia
- disorganized schizophrenia
- hebephrenic schizophrenia
- latent schizophrenia
- nonschizophrenia
- object schizophrenia
- paranoid schizophrenia
- paraphrenic schizophrenia
- pseudoneurotic schizophrenia
- pseudoschizophrenia
- reactive schizophrenia
- schizophrene
- schizophreniac
- schizophrenic
Related terms
- frantic
- frenetic
- frenzied
- frenzy
- phrenology
- schism
- schist
Credits
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