Standard Lemma guide

phrenitis

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /fɹəˈnʌɪtɪs/
  • General-American: /fɹəˈnaɪtəs/
  • General-American: [fɹəˈnaɪɾəs]

1

noun

Meaning 1

Madness, especially as caused by inflammation of the brain; encephalitis, encephalomeningitis, or meningitis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • Phrenitis, which the Greeks derive from the word φρήν, is a disease of the mind, with a continual madness or dotage [...].

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cephalitis

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

inflammation of the brain usually caused by a virus; symptoms include headache and neck pain and drowsiness and nausea and fever (`phrenitis' is no longer in scientific use)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: encephalitis, cephalitis

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inflammation, redness, rubor

Narrower terms: acute hemorrhagic encephalitis, equine encephalitis, equine encephalomyelitis, herpes simplex encephalitis, herpes encephalitis, acute inclusion body encephalitis, leukoencephalitis, meningoencephalitis, cerebromeningitis, encephalomeningitis, panencephalitis, sleeping sickness, sleepy sickness, epidemic encephalitis, lethargic encephalitis, encephalitis lethargica, West Nile encephalitis

History

Etymology

From Latin phrenītis, from Ancient Greek φρενῖτις (phrenîtis), from φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”).