Ataxia

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈtæksɪə/

Definitions

1. A neurological condition characterized by a loss of coordination and balance in voluntary movements, often resulting from damage to the cerebellum or spinal cord
2. A neurological disorder causing impaired coordination and balance during intentional movements due to damage affecting motor control centers
3. Loss of muscular coordination and equilibrium stemming from dysfunction in the nervous system's ability to regulate voluntary motion

Etymology: Ancient Greek writers used "ataxía" for military disorder: a line of soldiers out of formation, or an army in confusion. The word combines "a-", meaning "not", with a form of "tassein", "to arrange", so its literal sense is something like "lack of arrangement." The adjective "átaktos" carried the same idea of disorderly or unarranged, and the noun extended it to any kind of disorder. English took the word from Greek, and the medical sense came much later. Physicians adopted it to describe a loss of orderly muscular coordination, the stumbling and lurching of a body whose movements no longer line up with the will. The metaphor is the same one the Greeks used for troops: the parts still work, but they no longer keep rank.

Synonyms: lack of coordination, disorder, instability