Phrenetick

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. characterized by an overwhelming sense of excitement or madness
2. Displaying a state of uncontrolled excitement or wild enthusiasm
3. Showing behavior that is wildly agitated or mentally overactive

Etymology: The spelling "phrenetick" is an older form of "frenetic", and its roots lie in ancient Greek medicine, where "phrenitis" named a fever that was thought to inflame the mind. The Greek noun came from "phrēn", meaning "mind" or "diaphragm", and the adjective "phrenitikos" meant "delirious". Latin took it as "phreneticus", and it passed into Old French as "frenetike" before reaching Middle English as "frenetik". Strikingly, the same Greek root gave English "frantic" by a different route. The two words are doublets, both descended from one ancient source but arriving by separate paths, so the Greek idea of a mind driven out of order split into two English words that now sound quite different. A third form, "phrenitic", also entered English from the same source. The modern stress on the second syllable, fre-NET-ic, is unexpected. The source form would have been stressed on the first syllable, but the pattern of words ending in "-etic", such as "phonetic" and "sympathetic", pulled the stress toward the ending.