grand mal

1. 1.

   epilepsy in which the attacks involve loss of consciousness and tonic spasms of the musculature followed by generalized jerking

   Synonymsgrand mal epilepsygeneralized epilepsyepilepsia major

   Broaderepilepsy
2. 2.

   a seizure during which the patient becomes unconscious and has convulsions over the entire body

   Synonymsgeneralized seizureepilepsia major

   Broaderepileptic seizure

Questions about grand mal

What does grand mal mean?

grand mal means "epilepsy in which the attacks involve loss of consciousness and tonic spasms of the musculature followed by generalized jerking". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for grand mal?

Close synonyms include grand mal epilepsy, generalized epilepsy, epilepsia major, generalized seizure, epilepsia major. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is grand mal a common word?

grand mal is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.