Narcolept

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A person afflicted with narcolepsy, a neurological disorder that causes sudden, uncontrollable episodes of falling into sleep
2. Someone who experiences the chronic sleep disorder marked by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and abrupt lapses into slumber
3. An individual living with a condition that makes them fall asleep unexpectedly at any time during the day

Etymology: Ancient Greek "narke" meant numbness or stupor, the root behind the English "narcosis," and it also gave the name of the numbing electric fish, the torpedo ray. The second half, "-lepsy," comes from "lepsis," meaning a seizure or attack. The condition was named for sudden attacks of stupor, sleep that seizes a person without warning. The term was coined in French by the physician Jean-Baptiste-Édouard Gélineau, who described the disorder in 1880 and called it "narcolepsie." The English adjective "narcoleptic" followed from it. The noun "narcolept" came later, formed by back-formation: speakers removed the adjective's "-ic" ending to name the person who has the condition.

Synonyms: narcoleptic