Other forms: seizures
A seizure is a sudden fit in which the body shakes out of control. Have a seizure, a febrile seizure, seizure medication.
It is caused by a burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain, and not all seizures involve shaking — an absence seizure looks like a few seconds of blankness. The first-aid rule is to protect the head, time it, and not to put anything in the mouth. Note that seizure also means the legal taking of property, as in the seizure of assets, which is the older sense.
1nounseizureA sudden fit caused by abnormal brain activity.
“The boy had a seizure in the classroom, and the teacher called an ambulance.”
2nountakingThe legal taking of property.
“The court ordered the seizure of the drug dealer's house and cars.”
seizure is a fit, or a taking.
Proto-Germanic
*sakjaną
Frankish
*sakjan — to sue, bring legal action
la-eme
sacio — to lay claim to, appropriate
Old French
seisir — to take possession of; invest (person, court)
Middle English
seisen
English
seize
English, today
seizure
From seize + -ure. seize Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from la-eme sacio (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic sakjaną, sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA