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REFERENCE

anesthesia

n. uncountable
C1 Advanced US //ˌænɪsˈθiʒə// anes·the·sia

n. a state where you feel no pain, usually because a doctor gave you medicine before a procedure.

n. a loss of sensation, particularly pain, induced by drugs or other agents to allow medical procedures without discomfort.


SIMPLE

The patient was under anesthesia during the surgery.

CONTEXTUAL

The surgeon checked the patient's vital signs while the anesthesia took full effect.

COMPLEX

Modern anesthesia allows for complex surgical interventions that would have been impossible without the ability to temporarily suspend consciousness and pain perception.

Origin

Sense of “insensibility” attested since 1679, from New Latin anaesthēsia, from Ancient Greek ἀναισθησία (anaisthēsía, “without sensation”), from ἀν- (an-, “not”) and αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, “sensation”). By surface analysis, an- + -esthesia. Sense of “state induced by an agent” attested since 1846.

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