synaesthesia
/ˌsɪn.ɪsˈθiː.ʒə/
synaesthesia means A neurological or psychological phenomenon whereby a particular sensory stimulus triggers a second kind of sensation. It carries an Arena rating of 1506, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, synaesthesia ranks #2,160 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,671 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,363 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,593 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
synaesthesia is pronounced /ˌsɪn.ɪsˈθiː.ʒə/.
Why “synaesthesia” is a great word
A neurological condition or literary device where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway involuntarily leads to experiences in a second pathway, such as perceiving letters as having colors. From the Ancient Greek σύν (sún, "with") and αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, "sensation"), modelled after anaesthesia; first used in English in the late 19th century. Unlike metaphor, a deliberate and conventional figure of speech, or hallucination, a perception without an external trigger, synaesthesia is a consistent, automatic confluence of senses—neither imagined nor symbolic, but viscerally real. It is the sharp tang of lemon evoking a burst of yellow sparks behind the eyes, the deep hum of a cello wrapping around the skin like cool velvet, or the number five forever wearing a coat of burnt sienna—the mind not interpreting, but merging, sensation into a single inseparable texture.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, “sensation”), modelled after anaesthesia. It is analysable as syn- + -aesthesia.
noun
- A neurological or psychological phenomenon whereby a particular sensory stimulus triggers a second kind of sensation.
- The association of one sensory perception with, or description of it in terms of, a different perception that is not experienced at the same time.
- A literary or artistic device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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