tarantism
An extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a…An extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
Meaning
1 senses(uncountable, usually)An extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
Tanzwut
a nervous disorder characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance; popularly attributed to bite of the southern European tarantula or wolf spider
Translations
3 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From New Latin tarantismus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or resFrom New Latin tarantismus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result), from Old Italian Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”) + Latin -ismus (“-ism”); see further at tarantula. The English word is cognate with French tarentisme, Italian tarantismo.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: tarantismsSynonyms
2 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable