Ep'i-lĕp'sy, n.

n. [Gr. ἐπιληψία, a seizure, the falling sickness, from ἐπιλαμβάνειν, to take besides, to seize, attack, from ἐπί and λαμβάνειν, to take; Lat. epilepsia, Fr. épilepsie.] (Med.) The falling sickness, so called because the patient falls suddenly to the ground; a disease of the brain occurring at uncertain intervals, in paroxysms, which are characterized by loss of consciousness, and by convulsive motions of the muscles. Dunglison.