synaesthesia
/ˌsɪn.əsˈθi.ʒə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.75 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A neurological or psychological phenomenon whereby a particular sensory stimulus triggers a second kind of sensation.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The association of one sensory perception with, or description of it in terms of, a different perception that is not experienced at the same time.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "M. [Théodore] Flournoy includes all the phenomena of "Colored Hearing" and of "Mental Forms" under the convenient and adequate name Synæsthesia—in place of which, to be sure, he himself usually employs the less defensible term Synopsie. […] The phenomena of synæsthesia are divided into three main groups: "photisms," among which are included, as by [Eugen] Bleuler and Lehmann, all the varieties of pseudo-chromesthesia; "Schemes," comprising not only "forms" (diagrammes) associated with series of words or numbers, but "symbols," or particular figures associated with single letters, numerals, colors and the like; and "personifications," in which the associated factor is no mere color or form, but has become richer and more concrete."
- "Probably in all of us, though in some men much more distinctly than in others, there exist certain synæsthesiæ or concomitances of sense-impression, which are at any rate not dependent on any recognisable link of association."
- "[…] R. H. Gault's case of synesthesia in a deaf and blind girl, who could distinguish colors by the sense of smell, […]"
- "Now just as normal perceptions in terms of sense organs different from those stimulated can be interpreted through common past experiences, so it is likely that synæsthesias may be partly explicable in terms of individual experiences."
- "Into her darkness, a churning synaesthesia, where her pain was the taste of old iron, scent of melon, wings of a moth brushing her cheek."
- "For example, I myself have a type of synaesthesia: The sounds of musical instruments will sometimes make me see colors, about a yard in front of me, each color specific and consistent with the particular instrument playing."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, “sensation”), modelled after anaesthesia. It is analysable as syn- + -aesthesia.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌsɪn.əsˈθi.ʒə/
- British English: /ˌsɪn.ɪsˈθiː.ʒə/