schizophrenia

Etymology

First attested 1908, from New Latin schizophrenia, from German Schizophrenie, coined by Eugen Bleuler, from Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”) + φρήν (phrḗn, “mind, heart, diaphragm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌskɪt.səˈfɹiː.ni.ə/, /ˌskɪt.səˈfɹɛ.ni.ə/, /ˌskɪz.əˈfɹiː.ni.ə/

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Noun

schizophrenia (countable and uncountable, plural schizophrenias)

1. (pathology) A psychiatric diagnosis denoting a persistent, often chronic, mental illness characterised by abnormal perception, thinking, behavior and emotion, often marked by delusions.
2. (informal, figuratively) Any condition in which disparate or mutually exclusive activities coexist.
   • 2006, Bertus Praeg, Ethiopia and Political Renaissance in Africa (page 213)

     […] one can understand how the cultural disorientation which beset the African Continent has confused Africa's political behaviour, creating a political schizophrenia that made nation-building impossible.