paraplegia: paralysis with numbness and total loss of sensation and control of voluntary movement in the legs and lower body. It follows spinal cord injury or disease that disconnects the brain from its nerve supply to and from the body below.

Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index

Par`a*ple"gi*a (?), Par"a*ple`gy (?), n. [NL. paraplegia, fr. Gr. hemiplegia, fr. to strike at the side; beside + to strike: cf. F. parapl'egie.] Med.

Palsy of the lower half of the body on both sides, caused usually by disease of the spinal cord.

-- Par`a*pleg"ic (#), a.

 

© Webster 1913.