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

(Greek: feeling, sensation, perception)

anesthetist (s) (noun), anesthetists (pl)
A person, not necessarily a physician, who administers medications to a person or an animal, the purpose of which is to render the recipient unaware of pain: The hospital employed several anesthetists to work in the operation rooms.
anesthetize (verb), anesthetizes; anesthetized; anesthetizing
To place someone under the effects or influences of drugs that are designed to put a patient to "sleep" and to be unaware of pain during surgery: With the administration of a medication, Dr. Black anesthetized Glenda prior to the operation.
anesthetometer (s) (noun), anesthetometers (pl)
An apparatus for measuring and mixing vapors and gases that are designed to prepare a person for surgery: Prior to the operation, Dr. Swift, the anesthetist, checked the accuracy of the anesthetometer.
anesthetospasm (s) (noun), anesthetospasms (pl)
An unexpected twitch or often painful contraction of muscles associated with the effects or influences of medication designed to render the recipient insensible and unaware of pain: The unexpected anesthetospasm initially alarmed Dr. Starr, the anesthetist, who quickly checked the anesthetometer and then reported the anesthetospasm to Dr. Simmons.
angiospastic anesthesia (s) (noun), angiospastic anesthesias (pl)
A loss of sensation as a result of involuntary contractions of the blood vessels: When Jane was at the theater she fainted and it was medically determined that it was because she had angiospastic anesthesia.
apallesthesia (s) (noun), apallesthesias (pl)
Absence of the sense of vibration: Since Lucinda suffered from apallesthesia, she was not disturbed by the vibrations of the train as it roared across the country.
aphemesthesia (s) (noun), aphemesthesias (pl)
The loss of the ability to understand written language as a result of a cerebral lesion; also known as "alexia": When people are afflicted with aphemesthesia, they have a loss of the sense of articulate speech, as well as the inability to recognize what they are reading.
aphotesthesia (s) (noun), aphotesthesias (pl)
A physical condition that is caused by excessive exposure to sunlight: Aphotesthesia is characterized by a reduced retina sensitivity of the eyes to light.

The retinas are the areas at the back of a person's eyes which send light signals to the brain and where those signals are changed into images that may result in aphotesthesia when they are overexposed to sunlight.

arthresthesia (s) (noun), arthresthesias (pl)
1. The perception of movements in bodily joints: Even with her eyes closed, Katherine sensed the arthresthesia in her lower legs.
2. A recognition of sensations in joint surfaces: Marion reported arthresthesia in the joints of her broken foot which was a hopeful sign for recovery.
auditory hyperesthesia (s) (noun), auditory hyperesthesias (pl)
Abnormal acuteness of hearing due to the increased irritability of a sensory neural mechanism: During the recovery process from her accident, Monica seemed to experience auditory hyperesthesia and asked for a quiet room in the hospital.
auditory hypoesthesia (s) (noun), auditory hypoesthesias (pl)
The partial loss of hearing: The auditory hypoesthesia which Jack experienced was caused by the prolonged exposure to the sound of the jack hammer which he used for work.
auditory synesthesia (s) (noun), auditory synesthesias (pl)
A hearing sensation that occurs when another sense is stimulated: When LuAnn felt vibrations in her fingertips, she also experienced auditory synesthesia, sensing the sound that the vibrations might have made.
autaesthesy, autesthesy (s) (noun); autaesthesies; autesthesies (pl)
A feeling of self-consciousness: Barbara thought she was overdressed for the occasion and, as a result, she experienced acute autaesthesy.
baranesthesia (s) (noun), baranesthesias (pl)
1. Insensibility to weight or pressure on the body: Jonathan lifted weights to develop his muscles, but he always had a physical trainer with him to prevent accidents because Jonathan was subject to baranesthesia.
2. The inability to perceive pressure: The baranesthesia which Kirk experienced made it difficult for him to buy a pair of shoes that fit properly.
baresthesia (s) (noun), baresthesias (pl)
The ability to sense, or to perceive, pressure anywhere on the body: Alice had a well-developed sense of baresthesia which made her invaluable in the dance industry because she was designing dancing shoes for professional performers.

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-.