paralysis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun loss of the ability to move a body part
    palsy.

WordNet

Pa*ral"y*sis noun
Etymology
L., fr. Gr. , fr. to loosen, dissolve, or disable at the side; beside + to loosen. See Para-, and Loose, and cf. Palsy.
Definitions
  1. (Med.) Abolition of function, whether complete or partial; esp., the loss of the power of voluntary motion, with or without that of sensation, in any part of the body; palsy. See Hemiplegia, and Paraplegia. Also used figuratively. "Utter paralysis of memory." G. Eliot.
    Mischievous practices arising out of the paralysis of the powers of ownership. Duke of Argyll (1887).

Webster 1913