noun
- Plural of phrenitis; instances of acute inflammation of the brain or meninges, historically characterized by fever, delirium, and headache.
Usage: archaic; medical history; chiefly historical term no longer in common clinical use
Examples
- Medieval physicians documented numerous cases of phrenitises among their patients.
- The term phrenitises appears frequently in 18th-century medical texts describing acute brain inflammation.
- Doctors of the Renaissance attributed phrenitises to imbalances in the four humors.
- Historical records show that phrenitises were often fatal without modern medical intervention.