different between paroxysm vs semitertian

English

Etymology

From French paroxysme, from Medieval Latin paroxysmus (“severe illness, fit of agony, paroxysm”), from Ancient Greek ?????????? (paroxusmós, “irritation, the severe fit of a disease”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?pæ?.?k?s?z.?m/

Noun

paroxysm (plural paroxysms)

1. A random or sudden outburst (of activity).
   • 1903, Jack London, The Call of the Wild

     Unable to turn his back on the fanged danger and go on, the bull would be driven into paroxysms of rage.

   • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

     «There, on the soft sand, a few feet away from our elders, we would sprawl all morning, in a petrified paroxysm of desire, and take advantage of every blessed quirk in space and time to touch each other […] »

   • 1983, John Fowles, Mantissa

     Indeed in his excitement at this breakthrough he inadvertently dug his nails into the nurse's bottom, a gesture she misinterpreted, so that he had to suffer a paroxysm of breasts and loins in response.

2. An explosive event during a volcanic eruption.
3. A sudden recurrence of a disease, such as a seizure or a coughing fit.

Derived terms

• paroxysmal

Related terms

• oxymoron

Translations

Further reading

• paroxysm in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• paroxysm in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• paroxysm at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

semi- +? tertian

Adjective

semitertian (not comparable)

1. (obsolete, medicine, of a fever) Having a paroxysm every day, and a second stronger one every two days

Noun

semitertian (plural semitertians)

1. (obsolete, medicine) An intermittent fever of this kind.

See also

• quotidian
• tertian

Anagrams

• maternities, sarmientite