Narcoleptic

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Relating to a chronic neurological disorder marked by sudden, uncontrollable episodes of sleep during the day ; a person who has been diagnosed with that sleep disorder
2. Describing someone affected by a condition that causes overwhelming drowsiness and abrupt falls into sleep ; an individual living with the sleep disorder narcolepsy
3. Characterizing the sleep disorder that brings on sudden periods of deep slumber at unpredictable times ; a sufferer of this long-term condition affecting the brain's control of wakefulness

Etymology: "Narcoleptic" is built from two Greek-derived pieces. The first, "narco-", comes from the Greek "narkē", meaning numbness or stupor, and in modern scientific coinages it carries the sense of sleep. The second, "-leptic", comes from the Greek "lēpsis", a seizing or attack, the same root that gives "epileptic". Put together, the sense is a condition of sudden seizing by sleep. The prefix "narco-" also explains a surprising family resemblance. "Narcotic" and "narcosis" share the same Greek root, and the original idea behind that root was deadening or benumbing, which is why an electric ray fish, the "narke", was named for its numbing shock. The word for an illness that seizes people with sleep therefore borrows the vocabulary of numbness and sudden attack. As with other medical terms built from classical parts, "narcoleptic" is a modern coinage rather than an ancient one. Ancient Greeks had no word for this condition; the term was formed later from the older building blocks.