different between spasm vs paroxysm

English

Etymology

From Middle English spasme, from Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek ??????? (spasmós, “spasm, convulsion”), from ???? (spá?, “to draw out, pull out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?spæz.?m/

Noun

spasm (plural spasms)

1. A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
2. A violent, excruciating seizure of pain.
3. A sudden and temporary burst of energy, activity, or emotion.

Related terms

• spastic

Translations

Verb

spasm (third-person singular simple present spasms, present participle spasming, simple past and past participle spasmed)

1. To produce and undergo a spasm.

Translations

Anagrams

• samps, spams

Romanian

Etymology

From French spasme.

Noun

spasm n (plural spasme)

1. spasm

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

From Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek ??????? (spasmós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?spasm/, [?spas?m]

Noun

spasm c

1. spasm

Declension

References

• spasm in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

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