anesthesia

[an-uh s-thee-zhuh] /ˌæn əsˈθi ʒə/
noun
1.
Medicine/Medical. general or local insensibility, as to pain and other sensation, induced by certain interventions or drugs to permit the performance of surgery or other painful procedures.
2.
Pathology. general loss of the senses of feeling, as pain, heat, cold, touch, and other less common varieties of sensation.
3.
Psychiatry. absence of sensation due to psychological processes, as in conversion disorders.
Also, anaesthesia.
Origin
1715-25; < Neo-Latin < Greek anaisthēsía want of feeling. See an-1, esthesia
Examples from the web for anesthesia
  • In topical anesthesia, patient cooperation is a must for a smooth procedure.
  • Heroin was also found to be twice as potent as morphine in surgical anesthesia.
  • Eeg under general anesthesia depends on the type of anesthetic employed.
  • The procedure is performed under local anesthesia, making it more or less painless.
  • This is due, in part, to the fact that the mechanism of anesthesia itself is uncertain.
  • Other gases such as cyclopropane were also used for anesthesia.
British Dictionary definitions for anesthesia

anaesthesia

/ˌænɪsˈθiːzɪə/
noun
1.
local or general loss of bodily sensation, esp of touch, as the result of nerve damage or other abnormality
2.
loss of sensation, esp of pain, induced by drugs: called general anaesthesia when consciousness is lost and local anaesthesia when only a specific area of the body is involved
3.
a general dullness or lack of feeling
Word Origin
C19: from New Latin, from Greek anaisthēsia absence of sensation, from an- + aisthēsis feeling

anesthesia

/ˌænɪsˈθiːzɪə/
noun
1.
the usual US spelling of anaesthesia
Word Origin and History for anesthesia
n.

alternative spelling of anaesthesia (q.v.). See ae.

anesthesia in Medicine

anesthesia an·es·the·sia (ān'ĭs-thē'zhə)
n.

  1. Total or partial loss of sensation, especially tactile sensibility, induced by disease, injury, acupuncture, or an anesthetic.

  2. Local or general insensibility to pain with or without the loss of consciousness, induced by an anesthetic.

anesthesia in Science
anesthesia
  (ān'ĭs-thē'zhə)   
Total or partial loss of sensation to touch or pain, caused by nerve injury or disease, or induced intentionally, especially by the administration of anesthetic drugs, to provide medical treatment. The first public use of ether to anesthetize a patient in Boston in 1846 initiated widespread acceptance of anesthetics in the Western world for surgical procedures and obstetrics. General anesthesia, administered as inhalation or intravenous agents, acts primarily on the brain, resulting in a temporary loss of consciousness. Regional or local anesthesia affects sensation in a specific anatomic area, and includes topical application of local anesthetics, blocking of peripheral nerves, spinal anesthesia, and epidural anesthesia, which is used commonly during childbirth.
anesthesia in Culture
anesthesia [(an-is-thee-zhuh)]

Loss of sensation or consciousness. Anesthesia can be induced by an anesthetic, by acupuncture, or as the result of injury or disease.