Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tarantism

/ˈtæɹənˌtɪzm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: ta-rant-ism
IPA: /ˈtæɹənˌtɪzm/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"This dancing mania or tarantism prevailed during the whole of the 17th century — and Baglivi, one of the best physicians of that time, made it the subject of a dissertation. He supports his history of the symptoms by the testimony of his father, […]"
"The position depicted is often seen to characterize rituals of tarantism, used for centuries in southern Italy and elsewhere to treat victims of the tarantula's bite, expressing personal and social crises (De Martino 2005)."

Etymology

From 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.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: tarantismus, Taranto, -ismus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈtæɹənˌtɪzm/
British English: /ˈtæɹəntɪzm/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

tarantisms (plural) tarentism (alternative)

Synonyms

choreomania dancing mania

Questions

How do you pronounce tarantism?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtæɹənˌtɪzm/.
What does tarantism mean?: 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.
Where does tarantism come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce tarantism

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