Autist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder characterized by challenges in social interactions, communication, and by a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors or interests
2. An individual who exhibits traits often associated with autism, which may include difficulty in understanding social cues and experiencing the world in a unique way
3. Someone who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, resulting in a distinct way of processing information and interacting with their environment

Etymology: Autist is built from "autism" plus the suffix "-ist", and the autism part is the more surprising half. Eugen Bleuler coined "autism" in 1910 from Greek "autos", meaning "self", to describe the withdrawal into one's own inner world seen in some patients with schizophrenia. Only in the 1940s did Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger apply the idea to children, and the sense we use today grew out of that later work, so the word began as a description of a mental state in adults and was only later pinned to a developmental condition. The suffix "-ist" passed into English from Latin "-ista", which was itself borrowed from Greek "-istēs", a marker for a person who practises or follows something, as in "artist" or "pianist". Old French carried it into English, and "-ist" is now one of the most productive suffixes for turning a field or condition into a person who has it. "Autist" follows that pattern, giving a noun for someone who has the traits associated with autism.

Synonyms: individual with autism