aphantasia
/ˌeɪˌfænˈteɪ.zi.ə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A condition where one does not possess a functioning "mind's eye" and cannot visualize imagery.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Certain people, researchers have discovered, can't summon up mental images—it's as if their mind's eye is blind. This month in the journal Cortex, the condition received a name: aphantasia, based on the Greek word phantasia, which Aristotle used to describe the power that presents visual imagery to our minds. […] If aphantasia is real, it is possible that injury causes some cases while others begin at birth."
- "That's when I discovered I had aphantasia, the inability to conjure mental images. Little is known about the condition, but its impact on my education led me to wonder about how it might be impacting others. […] [A]phantasia not only impacts people's learning experiences; it also extends into their personal lives. Not being able to visualize means never picturing the faces of family or close friends and remembering images as abstract information."
Etymology
From a- (prefix meaning ‘opposite of; without’) + phantasia, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, prefix forming words having senses opposite to the stems or words to which the prefix is attached) + φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (phăntăsĭ́ā, “appearance, look; image; impression, perception”). Φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (Phăntăsĭ́ā) is derived from φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); and φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) from φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō, “to make visible, show; to become visible”), from φᾰντός (phăntós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear, reveal; to give light, shine”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to be visible, appear; to shine”). The English word was coined by the British neurologist Adam Zeman (born 1957) and his collaborators Michaela Dewar and the Italian neurologist Sergio Della Sala (born 1955) in a 2015 article published in Cortex.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌeɪˌfænˈteɪ.zi.ə/
- British English: /ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.zɪ.ə/