Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Loss, through disease, of the ability to express musical sounds either vocally or in strumentally, to write musical notation (the power of ordinary writing being retained), or to appreciate musical sounds mentally. See tone-deafness.
Wiktionary
- n. The inability to comprehend or respond to music.
Etymologies
- From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀμουσία (amousia, "without harmony"), from ἄμουσος (amousos, "without song"). The Muses were nine daughters of Zeus and the goddesses of arts and sciences. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Loved this from the article: Ms. Barker has the condition amusia despite the fact that her parents own a store specializing in traditional Irish instruments.”
“Delves into amusia tone deafness, music therapy, musical hallucinations, imagined music, musically-induced seizures and more.”
“In a new study, researchers now report the first objective measurement of the brain deficit in congenital amusia.”
“Tone deafness -- or amusia – can be congenital, present from birth, or acquired following injury to the brain.”
“~ Brain changes associated with congenital amusia -- About four percent of the population has congenital amusia, a lifelong disability that prevents otherwise normal functioning individuals from developing basic musical skills.”
“The medical profession is still investigating the cause of amusia and it is possible that there is a genuine affliction that disables the ability to distinguish musical intonation, but in the vast majority of cases, even the most excruciating singer can be taught to sing in tune.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“The opposite is true of the less than 1% of the population who suffer from amusia, or true tone deafness.”
“To bring this back around to the original point, any enforced political dystopia must be rooted in a kind of existential amusia, in which one has lost the ability to detect the rhythm, melody, and harmony of history.”
“Cheryl has lost all appeal she may have had with her complete amusia every week.”
“Using SSIRH one is able to explain why there are occurrences of isolated amusia or aphasia”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amusia’.
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xulilux's list
leviathan, destitute, iapetus, caesura, ineffable, eschew, phosphene, fungible, antediluvian, nomenclature, mottle, europa and 84 more...
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via Weird and Wonderful Words
Catch-all for things culled from Weird and Wonderful Words, More Weird and Wonderful Words, and Totally Weird and Wonderful Words, by Erin McKean, et al.
aboulia, alexiteric, angletouch, dactylion, alveary, sparlire, glabella, philtrum, pallium, heart-spoon, hyperprosexia, paraprosexia and 438 more...
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jocon04's list
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sick
"Sick" is probably not the right word, but this is where I put diseases, problems and abnormalities until I find a better way to sort them.
atavism, pareidolia, apophenia, echolalia, glossolalia, alogia, dysthymia, euthymia, synesthesia, Stendhal syndrome, cryptomnesia, analgesia and 356 more...
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Words of the Times
Words discovered while reading The New York Times, each with a citation from the paper.
testilying, ghost talk, apneist, solastalgia, izakaya, hooker, telectroscope, airflyte, phomance, bromhidrosis, stinky feet, cupping and 482 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3250 more...
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The Other Side of Silence
A sound garden.
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. --Walt Whitmantin cry, chark, gride, scroop, crepitation, stridulation, swazzle, death-ruckle, cronk, rumble, borborygmus, crowling and 165 more...
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PaperBird's Favorite Words List
Some words I like.
carmine, giclée, plexus, quint, betwixt, melpomene, novelty, paw, tesseract, stellate, lyrate, howl and 26 more...
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kpizz13's list
quiddity, oxblood, haciendo, peduncle, guacamole, hypotenuse, relish, riparian, amusia, caesura, ichthyology, Tittle and 1 more...
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My favourite english words
subjacent, invidious, virtu, overt, quadrangle, deliciously, antithetical, soporific, flummery, amusia, cakewalk, congruence and 65 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for amusia.
thesaurosie Not really related:
"What does the human brain sound like? Now you can find out thanks to a technique for turning its flickering activity into music. Listening to scans may also give new insights into the differences and similarities between normal and dysfunctional brains."
New Scientist, Do healthy brains make sweet music?, by Nora Schultz, July 1, 2009
Jul 4, 2009
john “Anne Barker, however, sits at the opposite extreme: she suffers from amusia, an inability to hear or respond to music.”
The New York Times, Our Brains on Music: The Science, by Mike Hale, June 29, 2009 Jul 1, 2009
she n., loss of a musical ability Jul 8, 2008