noun
- a dancing mania or uncontrollable urge to dance, historically attributed to the bite of a tarantula spider
Usage: historical; medical
Examples
- Medieval accounts describe outbreaks of tarantism in southern Italy.
- The phenomenon of tarantism was believed to be cured by frenzied dancing.
- Historians now view tarantism as a form of mass hysteria rather than spider poisoning.
- The tarantella dance is said to have originated from treatments for tarantism.
- Medical texts from the Renaissance documented cases of tarantism across Europe.
- Modern researchers study tarantism as an example of psychogenic illness.