Alexia
/əˈlɛk.si.ə/noun
An acquired inability to read, often caused by brain injury or neurological disease.
Did you know?Alexia can occur even when speech and intelligence remain largely intact, revealing that reading is a specialized brain process rather than a single basic language ability.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“To gather or collect; later associated with selecting and putting words together”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λέγειν (legein)
“To say, speak, or tell; also to gather or choose”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λέξις (lexis)
“A word, phrase, or manner of speaking”
19th Century
French
alexie
“Loss or impairment of the ability to read”
19th Century
English
alexia
“An acquired inability to read, used as a medical term”
Modern English
English
alexia
“Neurological loss of reading ability, sometimes despite preserved writing or speech”