Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology A
medical condition marked bymalfunction of thenerves that controlinvoluntary body functions, causingbreathing to requireconscious effort and therefore meaning patients willdie if they fallasleep .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
According to French and German mythology, the nymph Ondine / Undine discovered that her husband had committed adultery. Because he had promised his every waking breath to her, she cursed him that so long as he was awake he could breathe, but if he ever fell asleep he would stop breathing and die.
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