spasmodic

English

WOTD – 22 July 2010

Etymology

From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spæzˈmɒd.ɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /spæzˈmɑ.dɪk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

spasmodic (comparative more spasmodic, superlative most spasmodic)

1. Of or relating to a spasm; resembling a sudden contraction of the muscles.
2. Convulsive; consisting of spasms.

   spasmodic asthma

   • 1734, T[homas] K[night], A Critical Dissertation upon the Manner of the Preparation of Mercurial Medicines, and Their Operation on Human Bodies; particularly Those Most in Fashion: […], London: Printed for Harmen Noorthouck […], →OCLC, page 52:

     […] Dr. Francis Fuller, […] upon wearing a Quick-ſilver Girdle, for the Cure of the Itch, (and that after an inconſiderate and raſh manner) was brought under a violent Spaſmodick Diſtemper, which was ſupposed by himſelf and others to be owing to ſome Mercurial Particles lodg'd in ſome excretory Ducts of the Brain.

3. Intermittent or fitful; occurring in abrupt bursts.

   Synonyms: patchy, stop-start; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous

   spasmodic zeal or industry

   • 1900 April, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan:

     The chin was heavy, the nostrils were low and wide, and the lower lip hung loosely except in his moments of spasmodic earnestness, when it shut like a steel trap.

4. Erratic or unsustained.
5. Of or relating to the spasmodic poets, a group of British Victorian poets who wrote introspective drama in verse.

Derived terms

• spasmodically
• spasmodism
• spasmodist

Related terms

• spasm
• spasmic

Translations

of or relating to a spasm

• Bulgarian: спазматичен (bg) (spazmatičen)
• Catalan: espasmòdic
• French: spasmodique (fr) m or f
• Polish: spazmatyczny m
• Russian: спазмати́ческий (ru) m (spazmatíčeskij), спазмоподо́бный m (spazmopodóbnyj)
• Spanish: espasmódico

convulsive; consisting of spasms

• Bulgarian: конвулсивен (konvulsiven)
• Catalan: espasmòdic
• Polish: konwulsyjny m
• Russian: конвульсивный (ru) (konvulʹsivnyj)
• Spanish: espasmódico

intermittent or fitful; occurring in short bursts

• Maori: kōhikohiko, tāmutumutu, taratahi, kauteatea
• Polish: przerywany m
• Russian: прерывистый (ru) (preryvistyj)

erratic or unsustained

• Polish: nieregularny (pl) m
• Russian: нерегулярный (ru) (nereguljarnyj)

Noun

spasmodic (plural spasmodics)

1. A medicine for suppressing spasms.

   Synonym: antispasmodic

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French spasmodique.

Adjective

spasmodic m or n (feminine singular spasmodică, masculine plural spasmodici, feminine and neuter plural spasmodice)

1. spasmodic

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	spasmodic		spasmodică		spasmodici	spasmodice
	definite	spasmodicul		spasmodica		spasmodicii	spasmodicele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	spasmodic		spasmodice		spasmodici	spasmodice
	definite	spasmodicului		spasmodicei		spasmodicilor	spasmodicelor