Definition of "dementia" []

• Deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain. It is sometimes accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes. (noun)
• Madness; insanity. See Synonyms at insanity. (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.

• "Bleuler believed, however, that the term dementia praecox was too specific and did not always fit the clinical course, which he believed more variable than originally described."
• "The word dementia comes from the Latin de meaning "apart" and mens from the genitive mentis meaning "mind"."
• "The term dementia should refer to irreversible conditions."