from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun Abnormal irritability or sensitivity of an organ or a body part to stimulation.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun In physiology, excitement or stimulation of any organ or tissue, specifically of the organs of generation: as, the sexual erethism.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun (Med.) A morbid degree of excitement or irritation in an organ.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun pathology Abnormal excitement of a bodily organ or tissue.
noun Any unusual or morbid overexcitement.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun an abnormally high degree of irritability or sensitivity to stimulation of an organ or body part
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French éréthisme, from Greek erethisma, a provocation, from erethizein, to irritate.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From French éréthisme, from Ancient Greek ἐρεθισμός (erethismos), from ἐρεθίζειν (erethizein, "to irritate").
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Examples
"Inhalation of mercury vapor over a long period may cause mercurialism which is characterized by fine tremors and erethism" "" Erethism may be manifested by abnormal shyness, blushing, self-consciousness, depression or despondency, resentment of criticism, irritability or excitability, headache, fatigue and insomnia.
But erethism, as we shall see in another chapter upon the analysis of the sex impulse, is not confined to the sexual organs, but is distributed throughout the entire body, especially through the vascular and nervous systems.
Until the climax of the sexual erethism, woman is for man the acme of supreme desire; but with detumescence the emotions tend to swing to the opposite pole, and excitement and longing are forgotten in the mood of repugnance and exhaustion.
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