Word of the Day - 10/06/26
frenetic
/frə'nɛtɪk/(adj.): excessively agitated; distraught with fear or other violent emotion
The frenetic energy of the crowd after the goal made it impossible to hear anything.
Word Origin
The word 'frenetic' originates from Late Latin 'phreneticus', meaning 'delirious, frantic'. This in turn came from Greek 'phrenētikos' (φρενητικός), also meaning 'delirious', derived from 'phrenitis' (φρενῖτις), which signified 'inflammation of the brain, madness'. The Greek root 'phren' (φρήν) means 'mind' or 'diaphragm', reflecting an ancient belief that the diaphragm was the seat of emotions and thought. The word can be broken down into 'phren-' (mind) and the suffix '-etic' (related to or suffering from).
Words with a similar Greek origin include 'frantic' (also from Late Latin 'phreneticus'), 'phrenology' (the study of the mind, from 'phren' + 'logos'), 'schizophrenia' (from 'schizein' meaning 'to split' + 'phren' meaning 'mind'), and 'diaphragm' (the anatomical term directly from 'phren' in its sense of a physical barrier, which was also believed to house emotions).