Paraplegic
/ˌpærəˈpliːdʒɪk/noun
A person paralysed in the legs and lower body, usually after a spinal injury.
The Greek roots
Literally: “struck at the side”
The story of the word
Greek παραπληγία meant a stroke down one side, the sense English now gives to hemiplegia; the narrowing to the legs and lower trunk came much later. πληγή is a blow, and the underlying picture is of being hit: apoplexy is being struck down, the old name for a stroke. The Paralympic Games were originally named as a blend of paraplegic and Olympic, and the committee now explains the name from para-, alongside, since the athletes have long since ceased to be only paraplegic.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
In a sentence
He has been paraplegic since a motorbike crash at nineteen and coaches wheelchair basketball.
The house was rebuilt on one level after the accident.