Complete blindness or loss of sight, especially from birth or early in life.
From Greek 'a-' (without) + 'lepsis' (seizure, from 'lambano' meaning to seize), though influenced by 'blindness' through medical Latin. The term merged concepts of vision being 'seized' or taken away. Used primarily in historical medical texts from the 18th-19th centuries.
Medical professionals once used super specific Greek-based words for different types of blindness—ablepsia was one of many, showing how doctors loved to categorize conditions with fancy terminology. It's like how we now say 'color blindness' instead of inventing a new Greek word every time!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.