jactitation

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The Word of the Day for October 8 is: 

jactitation   \jak-tuh-TAY-shun\   noun
          : a tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body

Example sentence:
          “It is clear that Mrs Y.'s tics are far more complex in form than 
mere Parkinsonian jerks, jactitations, or precipitations….” (Oliver Sacks, 
_Awakenings_)

Did you know?
          In the 17th century, lawyers began tossing around the word 
“jactitation,” which can be traced back to the Latin verb “jactare,” meaning 
“to throw.” Originally, “jactitation” was used as a word for a false claim or 
assertion being publicly thrown about to the detriment of another person. 
Run-of-the-mill slander and false claims of being married to someone were two 
common types of jactitation brought to court. Before long, “jactitation” had 
jumped over to the medical profession, where it continues to serve as a word 
for restless, jerky, or twitchy body movements. In 1761, British writer 
Laurence Sterne threw “jactitation” into his novel _Tristram Shandy_ as a 
substitute for “discussion,” but that meaning never caught on. 





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