echolalia
/ˌɛkə(ʊ)ˈleɪlɪə/
echolalia means the involuntary repetitive echoing of words or phrases spoken by another person; either immediate or delayed. It carries an Arena rating of 1604, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, echolalia ranks #2,016 of 17,052 for Scariest Words, #2,783 of 17,052 for Funniest Words, #2,784 of 17,052 for Most Sublime Words, #3,407 of 17,052 for Most Incisive Words.
echolalia is pronounced /ˌɛkə(ʊ)ˈleɪlɪə/.
Why “echolalia” is a great word
The involuntary, often pathological, repetition of words or phrases spoken by others. From echo- (from Ancient Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ, "reflected sound, echo")) + -lalia (from Ancient Greek λαλιά (laliá, "talk, prattle")). First attested in English in 1876, from German (von Romberg, 1865). Unlike palilalia, which traps one in a loop of one's own speech, or imitation, a conscious and voluntary act of learning, echolalia is a reflexive haunting of the voice by other voices. It is the child's heartbreakingly accurate mimicry of a loved one's question they cannot answer, the soldier's mechanical repetition of a command just shouted, or the hollow, lagging echo of a greeting in a hospital room—the self displaced by mere acoustics, where words are caught not as meaning, but as sound bouncing off silent walls.
Etymology
From echo- + -lalia; echo- ultimately from Ancient Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ, “reflected sound, echo”), -lalia from λαλιά (laliá, “talk, chat”).
noun
- The involuntary repetitive echoing of words or phrases spoken by another person; either immediate or delayed.
- An infant's repetitive imitation of vocal sounds spoken by another person, occurring naturally during childhood development.
- Any apparently meaningless, repetitious noises, especially voices.e.g.“There was the boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden.”
Words closest in meaning
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