Definition of "aphonia" [a•pho•ni•a]

• Loss of the voice resulting from disease, injury to the vocal cords, or various psychological causes, such as hysteria. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Another time he lost his voice, a condition known as aphonia, which can have psychological causes."
• "Quite the provocative tribute to her three months aphonia marathon at the MoMa."
• "The point is not an easy one — this relation of thought to non-voice: We can only think if language is not our voice, only if we reach our own aphonia at its very bottom"