Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance, especially prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th century and popularly attributed to the bite of a tarantula.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A dancing mania; specifically and originally, a dancing mania of the south of Italy in those who had been bitten by a tarantula, or thought they had been, and their imitators.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) A nervous affection producing melancholy, stupor, and an uncontrollable desire to dance. It was supposed to be produced by the bite of the tarantula, and considered to be incapable of cure except by protracted dancing to appropriate music.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete, medicine An extreme
urge todance , popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of atarantula and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a nervous disorder characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance; popularly attributed to bite of the southern European tarantula or wolf spider
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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These effects consisted of a feigned or imaginary disease known as tarantism, which was prevalent in Apulia and other portions of southern Italy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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"tarantism," which was supposed to originate in the bite of the tarantula.
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One of the oldest documents on the subject of tarantism, Ferdinando Ponzetti's Sertum Papale De Venensis (1362), had suggested that the victims of shade-dwelling spiders were hostages to the music of the tarantula's bite, to its 'cantum tempore'.
Boing Boing: January 29, 2006 - February 4, 2006 Archives 2006
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Music, as a cure for tarantism, 197-200; as a medicine, 189; at banquets, 180-184; at hospitals, 193; distasteful to some persons, 186; healing influence of, 172-200.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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Indeed, Dr.H. Chomet, who diligently investigated the matter, never succeeded in finding a case of tarantism, nor was he able even to obtain a glimpse of one of these insects.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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Many physicians and historians have written on this subject, and with singular unanimity have endorsed music as a curative agent for tarantism.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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It is certain, however, that tarantism was very prevalent in earlier times.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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Dr. Mead, above mentioned, gave a curious description of the symptoms of tarantism.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery Robert Means Lawrence
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This form of "possession," then, passed out of the supernatural domain, and became known as "tarantism."
A History of the warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom 1896
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Almost simultaneous with the dance of ` ` St. With, '' there appeared in Italy and Arabia a mania very similar in character which was called ` ` tarantism, '' which was supposed to originate in the bite of the tarantula.
jmjarmstrong commented on the word tarantism
JM just doesn’t have the urge for tarantism that he used to.
September 5, 2009