different between distraction vs lunacy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French distraction, from Latin distractio.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d?s?t?æk?(?)n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d?s?t?æk??n/, /d?-/
• Rhymes: -æk??n
• Hyphenation: dis?tract?ion

Noun

distraction (countable and uncountable, plural distractions)

1. Something that distracts.

2. The process of being distracted.

3. Perturbation; disorder; disturbance; confusion.
   • 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):

     It's true that the Copernican Systeme introduceth distraction in the universe of Aristotle.

4. Mental disorder; a deranged state of mind; insanity.
   • 1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory

     […] if he speak the words of an oath in a strange language, thinking they signify something else, or if he spake in his sleep, or deliration, or distraction, it is no oath, and so not obligatory.

5. (medicine, archaic) Traction so exerted as to separate surfaces normally opposed.

Derived terms

• distracter
• distractee

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “distraction”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Anagrams

• adstriction

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin distracti?, distracti?nem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.t?ak.sj??/

Noun

distraction f (plural distractions)

1. distraction
2. entertainment

Related terms

• distraire

Further reading

• “distraction” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From lunatic +? -cy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?lu?.n?.si /, /?lju?.n?.si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?lu?.n?.si /

Noun

lunacy (countable and uncountable, plural lunacies)

1. (of a person or group of people) The state of being mad, insanity
   1. a cyclical mental disease, apparently linked to the lunar phases
   2. insanity implying legal irresponsibility.
2. Something deeply misguided.

Synonyms

• (state of being mad): insanity, madness, craziness, craze

Translations