aesth-, esth-, aesthe-, esthe-, aesthesio-, esthesio-, aesthesia-, -esthesia, -aesthetic, -esthetic, -aesthetical, -esthetical, -aesthetically, -esthetically

(Greek: feeling, sensation, perception)

plessesthesia (s) (noun), plessesthesias (pl)
1. A touching percussion (tapping) with the left middle finger pressed against the body and the right index finger percussing (tapping) in contact with the left finger: Imitating the entertaining clown, the small boy attempted plessesthesia, however he became frustrated because he couldn't do it very well.
2. Etymology: from Greek plessein, "to strike" plus aisthesis, "sensation".
polyaestheic, polyesthetic (adjective); more polyaestheic, most polyaestheic; more polyesthetic, most polyesthetic
Pertaining to, or affecting, several senses or sensations: Standing outside in a rain storm with thunder and lightning is one example of a polyaestheic experience.
polyaesthesia, polyesthesia (s) (noun); polyaesthesias; polyesthesias (pl)
A condition in which the touch of a single object seems to be felt in several different places: When Dr. Jones placed his hand on the upper part of Jasmin's back, the effect of polyaesthesia suddenly occurred because she thought she could feel his touch on the lower parts of her body as well.
polyesthetic (adjective), more polyesthetic, most polyesthetic
1. Relating to, or affecting, several senses or sensations: The burning of toast in the kitchen caused a polyesthetic effect in that Athena's nose and eyes were watering and she was coughing.
2. Referring to a situation in which a single object seems to be felt in several different places: Even though Fred had only one cactus spine in his foot, it was a very polyesthetic experience because it felt as if dozens of spines were in his foot.
postanesthesia, postanaesthesia (s) (noun); postanaesthesias; postanesthesias (pl)
A reference to the recovery period of a patient after having received medication used to reduce or to eliminate pain during such procedures as surgery: After the operation, Linda was wheeled into the recovery room for her postanesthesia.
postanesthetic (adjective) (not comparable)
A reference to a sensation that a patient has after the medical administration of a substance that produces a temporary loss of bodily sensations, such as as halothane, procaine, or ether: During her postanesthetic rest, Gladys felt a tingling sensation in her feet.
preanesthetic (s) (noun), preanesthetics (pl)
A drug for producing a preliminary and a more comfortable loss of sensations: Sharon's doctor prescribed that she be given a preanesthetic before the full anesthesia agent would be administered in order to reduce her anxiety and apprehension and to make the induction smoother and faster.
preanesthetic, preanaesthetic (adjective) (not comparable)
1. Descriptive of a medication that is given prior to the injection of a drug that will result in a total loss of bodily sensations: The anesthetist gave a preanesthetic drug to Patricia in order to reduce her anxiety and apprehension and to facilitate the induction of a general anesthesia before her operation was to take place.
2. A reference to the provision of a medical substance to develop a reduction in a patient's consciousness: Dr. Bowes, the anesthesiologist, recommended the use of a preanesthetic drug prior to administering the normal anesthetic for Dick's's major surgery.
pseudaesthetic, pseudesthetic (adjective); more pseudaesthetic, most pseudaesthetic; more pseudesthetic, most pseudesthetic
Descriptive of a fake or false medication to induce the temporary loss of awareness: In his studies of psychosomatic illness, Mr. Smith often used pseudaesthetic medications to convince the patients that they were unconscious for periods of time.
pseudesthesia, pseudaesthesia (s) (noun); pseudesthesias; pseudaesthesias (pl)
1. A false or imaginary sensation, as in a limb that has been amputated: In her reports, Dr. Conroy described several cases of pseudesthesia among her amputee patients.
2. A sensation that is felt without any external stimulus, or a sensation which does not correspond to the stimulus that seems to cause it: Just watching the film about giant ant hills made Mildred experience pseudesthesia, or physical feelings as if she were being bitten by the ants.
pseudoaesthetic (adjective), more pseudoaesthetic, most pseudoaesthetic
Descriptive of a false awareness or a sensation of something: While walking in the cactus garden, Mark experienced a pseudoaesthetic feeling of itchiness, as if he’d been stuck by the cactus spines.
pseudoesthesia (s) (noun), pseudoesthesias (pl)
A false or fake consciousness of a stimulation: Just seeing the tuning fork moving towards Brian's ankle bone created a pseudoesthesia that his bones were vibrating.
pseudogeusesthesia (syoo doh gyoo" es THEE zia) (s) (noun), pseudogeusesthesias (pl)
A false sense of taste that is triggered by an association with a similar sensation: Based on Laura's childhood memories, every time she smelled peanut butter she experienced a pseudogeusesthesia in that she could taste it in her mouth even though she had not eaten it.
pseudophotesthesia (s) (noun), pseudophotesthesias (pl)
The production of a sensation of light or color by a stimulus to another sense organ, such as of hearing, taste, or touch: When Ingrid sees light glaring on the surface of a stream, she always gets a sense of pseudophotesthesia, as if the sun were shining brightly in her face.
psychochromesthesia (s) (noun), psychochromesthesias (pl)
1. Color sensation produced by the stimulus of a sense organ other than that of vision: While listening to the organ music, Irene had the sense of psychochromesthesia as if light were filling the room where she was sitting.

Sometimes a pseudochromesthesia is described as a condition in which sounds, especially of the vowels, seem to induce a sensation of a distinct visual color.

2. A sensation in which a certain stimulus to one of the special organs of sense produces the mental image of a color: When eating highly spiced foods, Josh has feelings of strong noises andof bright colors filling the room which remind him of the market places he visited in South Asia.

Arrow pointing to words and info sections The index of anesthesia history, Parts 1, 2, and 3.


Quiz If you would like to take self-scoring quizzes over some of the words in this thematic unit, then click on this Aesthesia, Esthesia Quizzes link, or the button, so you can see how much you know about some of these aesth-, esth- words.

Related-word units meaning feeling: senso-; pass-, pati-; patho-.