encephalitis

en·ceph·a·li·tis  (n-sf-lts)

n.

Inflammation of the brain.

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en·cepha·litic (-ltk) adj.

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encephalitis [en-sef-a-lite-iss]

Noun

inflammation of the brain [Greek en- in + kephalē head]

encephalitic adj

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encephalitis  (n-sf-lts)

Inflammation of the brain, usually caused by infection with a virus.

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encephalitis

an inflamed condition of the brain.

See also: Brain

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

encephalitis - inflammation of the brain usually caused by a virus; symptoms include headache and neck pain and drowsiness and nausea and fever (`phrenitis' is no longer in scientific use) cephalitis, phrenitis inflammation, redness, rubor - a response of body tissues to injury or irritation; characterized by pain and swelling and redness and heat acute hemorrhagic encephalitis - encephalitis that resembles apoplexy due to blood extravasation equine encephalitis, equine encephalomyelitis - encephalitis caused by a virus that is transmitted by a mosquito from an infected horse acute inclusion body encephalitis, herpes encephalitis, herpes simplex encephalitis - common form of acute encephalitis caused by herpes simplex 1; usually affects the temporal and frontal lobes leukoencephalitis - inflammation of the white matter of the brain cerebromeningitis, encephalomeningitis, meningoencephalitis - inflammation of the brain and spinal cord and their meninges panencephalitis - diffuse inflammation of the entire brain encephalitis lethargica, epidemic encephalitis, lethargic encephalitis, sleeping sickness, sleepy sickness - an encephalitis that was epidemic between 1915 and 1926; symptoms include paralysis of the extrinsic eye muscle and extreme muscular weakness West Nile encephalitis - encephalitis caused by the West Nile virus; can be fatal in humans and horses and birds