てんかん

て

ん

か

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

epilepsy; epileptic fit

usually written using kana alonemedicine

Medical term for epilepsy or an epileptic seizure. Commonly used in both clinical and everyday contexts.

彼かれはてんかんの発ほっ作さを起おこした。
He had an epileptic seizure.
てんかんの治ち療りょうには薬くすりが使つかわれる。
Medication is used to treat epilepsy.

See all 41 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉がてんかんを起おこすfor someone to have an epileptic seizure
彼かれは突とつ然ぜんてんかんを起おこして倒たおれた。
He suddenly had an epileptic seizure and collapsed.
てんかんの発ほっ作さan epileptic fit/seizure
てんかんの発ほっ作さは薬くすりでコントロールできる場ば合あいが多おおい。
Epileptic seizures can often be controlled with medication.
てんかんを患わずらうto suffer from epilepsy
彼かの女じょは幼おさない頃ころからてんかんを患わずらっている。
She has suffered from epilepsy since she was a child.

Kanji

癲insanity
癇bitter, hot temper, irritable

Related words

発ほっ作さN1
発作 is a general word for any sudden attack (asthma, heart, etc.), while 癲癇 specifically names the disease epilepsy or its seizures.

Don't confuse with

転てん換かんN1
転換 (てんかん) means 'conversion, switch' and is a completely different word from 癲癇 (てんかん), the medical term for epilepsy, despite sharing the same pronunciation.

Word family

癲てん癇かん持もち
epileptic; person with epilepsy
外がい傷しょう性せい癲てん癇かん
traumatic epilepsy
光ひかり過か敏びん性せい癲てん癇かん
photosensitive epilepsy
ジャクソンてんかん
Jacksonian epilepsy

Written forms

てんかんUsage82%
Usually written in kana; the kanji form 癲癇 is rare and may not display correctly on all devices.
癲てん癇かんUsage10%
Kanji form; rarely used in modern writing and may be difficult to read or display.
テンカンUsage8%

Etymology

The kanji 癲 (ten) means 'insanity' or 'convulsions', and 癇 (kan) means 'irritability' or 'nervousness'. Together they form a medical term for epilepsy. The word is a Sino-Japanese compound (kango).