Synaesthesia

Quick meaning: Synaesthesia is a noun meaning (art, literature) A literary or artistic device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another.

Meaning

(art, literature) A literary or artistic device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another.

More Meanings

1. (neurology, psychology) A neurological or psychological phenomenon whereby a particular sensory stimulus triggers a second kind of sensation.
2. (by extension) The association of one sensory perception with, or description of it in terms of, a different perception that is not experienced at the same time.

Example Sentences

[…] R. H. Gault's case of synesthesia in a deaf and blind girl, who could distinguish colors by the sense of smell, […]

Into her darkness, a churning synaesthesia, where her pain was the taste of old iron, scent of melon, wings of a moth brushing her cheek.

For example, I myself have a type of synaesthesia: The sounds of musical instruments will sometimes make me see colors, about a yard in front of me, each color specific and consistent with the particular instrument playing.

Probably in all of us, though in some men much more distinctly than in others, there exist certain synæsthesiæ or concomitances of sense-impression, which are at any rate not dependent on any recognisable link of association.

Word Forms

• synaesthesiae
• synaesthesias
• synesthesia

Synonyms for synaesthesia

Depending on context, synonyms include synesthesia.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include synesthesia, chromesthesia, ideasthesia, sonochromatism, chemosensation, synneurosis.

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