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mass psychogenic illness

The occurrence of psychogenic illness in a group of people at the same time. Examples include the biting manias and dancing manias that spread throughout parts of Europe between the 1200s and the 1600s.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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