Etymology
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autism (n.)

1912, from German Autismus, coined 1912 by Swiss psychiatrist Paul Bleuler from Greek autos "self" (see auto-) + -ismos suffix of action or of state. The notion is of "morbid self-absorption."

Entries linking to autism

auto- 
word-forming element meaning "self, one's own, by oneself, of oneself" (and especially, from 1895, "automobile"), from Greek autos, reflexive pronoun, "self, same," which is of unknown origin. It also was a common word-forming element in ancient Greek, as in modern English, but very few of the old words have survived the interval. In Greek, as a word-forming element, auto- had the sense of "self, one's own, of oneself ('independently'); of itself ('natural, native, not made'); just exactly; together with." Before a vowel, it became aut-; before an aspirate, auth-. In Greek it also was used as a prefix to proper names, as in automelinna "Melinna herself." The opposite prefix would be allo-.
autistic (adj.)
1912 (Bleuler), from autism (q.v.). Noun meaning "person with autism" is recorded from 1968 (earlier in this sense was autist). Related: Autistically.

updated on November 30, 2017

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Definitions of autism from WordNet

autism (n.)
(psychiatry) an abnormal absorption with the self; marked by communication disorders and short attention span and inability to treat others as people;
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near autism

authoritative

authority

authorization

authorize

authorship

autism

autistic

auto-

auto

autobahn

autobiography

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper