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A Dictionary of Medical Derivations:The Real Meaning of Medical Terms
by William Casselman ISBN 1-85070-771-5
INDEX OF MEDICAL WORD ORIGINS
CLICK ON WORD TO SEE ORIGIN
de away from + lira Latin, furrow in a field + ium common noun ending in Latin; hence delirium Latin, a going off the ploughed track, a madness
Delirium, often a learned word in English, has its origin in a very homey Latin metaphor. If an ancient Roman farmer was driving an ox before a plough, made a mistake, and went off the line of the furrow or lira, he committed a delirium. He got off the track.
It's a small jump in meaning to: he went out of his mind, he became delirious. Delirium as a technical term in psychiatry is an acute organic mental disorder.
The same root resides in the English verb to learn, whose root lir-en goes back to a stem meaning ‘track, rut, furrow.’ To learn is to keep on the track of wisdom.
Delirium tremens or the d.t.'sdelirium madness + tremens Latin, trembling
Delirium tremens is an acute and sometimes fatal brain disorder affecting alcoholics, sometimes called alcohol withdrawal delirium, which happens a few days after one stops booze intake of many years.
Symptoms may include raving, hallucinations, trembling, rapid heartbeat, among others. There is also alcohol hallucinosis which is associated with years of constant alcohol abuse.
Now, in slang use, it's the d.t.'s, the heebie-jeebies, the shakes, the blue devils, when those pink elephants turn nasty. Delirium also accompanies abuse of drugs like amphetamines. It may be of slow or rapid onset.
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