ataxia definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements; unsteady movements and staggering gait [syn: ataxia, ataxy, dyssynergia, motor ataxia]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Greek, from a- + tassein to put in order Date: 1670 an inability to coordinate voluntary muscular movements that is symptomatic of some central nervous system disorders and injuries and not due to muscle weakness — called also incoordination • ataxic adjective

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ataxia A*tax"i*a, Ataxy At"ax*y, n. [NL. ataxia, Gr. ?, fr. ? out of order; 'a priv. + ? ordered, arranged, ? to put in order: cf. F. ataxie.] 1. Disorder; irregularity. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall. 2. (Med.) (a) Irregularity in disease, or in the functions. (b) The state of disorder that characterizes nervous fevers and the nervous condition. Locomotor ataxia. See Locomotor.