petit mal

pet·it mal  (pt mäl, ml)

n.

A form of epilepsy, occurring most often in adolescents and children, characterized by frequent but transient lapses of consciousness and only rare spasms or falling.

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[French : petit, small + mal, illness.]

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petit mal [pet-ee mal]

Noun

a mild form of epilepsy in which there are periods of loss of consciousness for up to 30 seconds [French: little illness]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	petit mal - epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (and possibly other abnormalities); "she has been suffering from petit mal since childhood" epilepsia minor, petit mal epilepsy epilepsy - a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by loss of consciousness and convulsions absence seizure, absence - the occurrence of an abrupt, transient loss or impairment of consciousness (which is not subsequently remembered), sometimes with light twitching, fluttering eyelids, etc.; common in petit mal epilepsy
	2.	petit mal - a seizure of short duration characterized by momentary unconsciousness and local muscle spasms or twitching; "the girl was frightened by her first petit mal" epilepsia minor epileptic seizure - convulsions accompanied by impaired consciousness