Bĕd'lam1, n.
n. [Corrupted from Bethlehem, the name of a religious house in London, afterward converted into a hospital for lunatics.]
- A place appropriated to the confinement and care of the insane; a mad-house. Tillotson.
- An insane person; a lunatic; a madman. “Let us get the bedlam to lead him.” Shak.