petit mal
/ˈpɛti ˈmal
/noun [mass noun]
1A mild form of epilepsy characterized by brief spells of unconsciousness without loss of posture. Compare with grand mal.This led in particular to a more detailed differentiation and classification of epilepsy, including terms still in use today, such as grand mal, petit mal, absence seizures, and status epilepticus....
- Doctors dispelled the depression as an extensive form of epilepsy, petit mal.
- The terms seizure and convulsion include grand mal, petit mal, absence, myoclonic, tonic-clonic, and focal motor seizures and signs.
1.1 [count noun] A petit mal epileptic fit: he wasn’t out of his petit mal yet...
- I myself had pediatric petit mal epilepsy (It cleared as I went through puberty), and when I had my first long lasting seizure it was actually pretty undramatic.
- We're not too sure whether James had a petit mal seizure, (he suffers from epilepsy), on the bus on the way home from his post school option program.
- A is epileptic; he had daily petit mal seizures as a child which would case memory loss, so he is an unreliable witness.
Origin
Late 19th century: from French, literally 'little sickness'.