Neurypnology

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The scientific study of hypnotism, a state of induced nervous sleep first named by the surgeon James Braid
2. The branch of knowledge concerned with hypnotic trance and the nervous sleep that Braid believed it produced
3. An older name for the study of hypnotism, based on the idea that the trance was a form of nervous sleep

Etymology: "Neurypnology" is a modern scientific coinage, built from two parts that are both formed from Greek roots. The first part, "neuro-", comes from Greek "neuron", meaning "sinew" or "nerve", and in modern usage it signals the nervous system. The second part, "hypnology", combines Greek "hypnos", "sleep", with the suffix "-logy", "study of". Together the pieces describe the study of hypnotic states in terms of the nervous system. The result is a word with a clear logic: "hypnology" by itself would suggest the study of sleep, and the nerve-related prefix narrows the focus to the physiology behind hypnotism. Because it is a deliberate construction, its meaning can be read straight from its parts, and it has no older sense to shift from. The form "neurohypnology" is the fuller version of the same term, and "neurypnology" is an alternative spelling that drops the middle syllable.

Synonyms: hypnotism, mesmerism