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hypnosis

a trance-like state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility

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Where does the word "hypnosis" come from? It comes from Greek hypnos, and was adopted directly into English (1840s).

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Where does the word "hypnosis" come from? It comes from Greek hypnos, and was adopted directly into English (1840s).

Hypnosis’s story begins in Greek: hypnos meant “sleep.” The Greek god of sleep. It reached English by 1840s as hypnosis. Coined from the Greek root to describe an induced trance state. Today, hypnosis means a trance-like state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility.

  1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient hypnos "sleep", the Greek god of sleep.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1840s hypnosis "a trance-like state of focused attention", coined from the Greek root to describe an induced trance state.

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