monomania - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: monomania

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·o·ma·ni·a

Audio Help [mon-uh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	(no longer in technical use) a psychosis characterized by thoughts confined to one idea or group of ideas.

2.	an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.

[Origin: 1815–25; < NL; see mono-, -mania

]

—Related forms

mon·o·ma·ni·ac

Audio Help [mon-uh-mey-nee-ak] Pronunciation Key, noun

mon·o·ma·ni·a·cal

Audio Help [mon-uh-muh-nahy-uh-kuh

l] Pronunciation Key, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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monomania

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·o·ma·ni·a Audio Help (mŏn'ə-mā'nē-ə, -mān'yə) Pronunciation Key
n.

Pathological obsession with one idea or subject.
Intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea.

mon'o·ma'ni·ac' (-mā'nē-āk') n., mon'o·ma·ni'a·cal (-mə-nī'ə-kəl) adj., mon'o·ma·ni'a·cal·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
monomania

1823, from Mod.L., from Gk. monos "single, alone" + mania. Probably on model of earlier Fr. monomanie. Form of insanity in which the patient is mad on one subject only.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

monomania
noun
a mania restricted to one thing or idea

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Monomania

In*san"i*ty\, n. [L. insanitas unsoundness; cf. insania insanity, F. insanite.]

1. The state of being insane; unsoundness or derangement of mind; madness; lunacy.

All power of fancy overreason is a degree of insanity. --Johnson.

Without grace The heart's insanity admits no cure. --Cowper.

2. (Law) Such a mental condition, as, either from the existence of delusions, or from incapacity to distinguish between right and wrong, with regard to any matter under action, does away with individual responsibility.

Syn: Syn>- Insanity, Lunacy, Madness, Derangement, Aliention, Aberration, Mania, Delirium, Frenzy, Monomania, Dementia.

Usage: Insanity is the generic term for all such diseases; lunacy has now an equal extent of meaning, though once used to denote periodical insanity; madness has the same extent, though originally referring to the rage created by the disease; derangement, alienation, are popular terms for insanity; delirium, mania, and frenzy denote excited states of the disease; dementia denotes the loss of mental power by this means; monomania is insanity upon a single subject.

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monomania

monomania was Word of the Day on June 22, 2000.

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