English
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia comes from German Schizophrenie.
- Germanc. 1650–presentSchizophrenie
- Englishearliest quotation 1946schizophrenia
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentSchizophrenie
- Englishearliest quotation 1946schizophrenia
Earliest quotation: 1946, George O. Smith, Trouble: “You have enough money to afford schizophrenia for a…”
A compound of σχίζω ‘to split’ + φρήν ‘mind, heart, diaphragm’ + -ia
Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- ‘to divide, split’
Proto-Indo-European *skid-yé-ti
Ancient Greek σχίζω ‘to split’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰren- ‘soul, mind’
Ancient Greek φρήν ‘mind, heart, diaphragm’
The story
From German Schizophrenie (coined by Eugen Bleuler), from Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”) + φρήν (phrḗn, “mind, heart, diaphragm”) + English -ia.
Every English word from German Schizophrenie
Today it means
noun A psychiatric diagnosis denoting a persistent, often chronic, mental illness characterised by abnormal perception, thinking, behavior and emotion, often marked by delusions.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Schizophrenie / schizophrenia