Nearby Words

formication

[fawr-mi-key-shuhn] Origin

for·mi·ca·tion

[fawr-mi-key-shuhn]
noun
a tactile hallucination involving the belief that something is crawling on the body or under the skin.

Origin:
1700–10; < Latin (Pliny) formīcātiōn-, stem of formīcātiō a sensation that ants are crawling on one's skin, equivalent to formicā(re) to have such a sensation (verbal derivative of formīca ant) + -tiōn- -tion

formication, fornication.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Formication is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
formication (ˌfɔːmɪˈkeɪʃən)
 
n
a sensation of insects crawling on the skin; symptom of a nerve disorder

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

formication
1707, from L. formicationem, noun of action from formicare to crawl like ants, from formica "ant."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

formication for·mi·ca·tion (fôr'mĭ-kā'shən)
n.
An abnormal sensation as of insects running over or into the skin, associated with cocaine intoxication or disease of the spinal cord and peripheral nerves.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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