Hemicrania

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪniÉ™

Origin

Late Latin hemicrania ("pain in one half of the head"), from Ancient Greek ἡμικρᾱνίᾰ (hemikrania), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, "hemi-, half") + κρανίον (kranion, "skull") (from whence also cranium).

Cognate to megrim and migraine, which also derive from the Latin.

Full definition of hemicrania

Noun

1. (pathology) A headache affecting one side of the head.
• 1993, The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, translation Burgin and O’Connor, Chapter 2, p. 17:“Gods, gods, why do you punish me? Yes, no doubt it is upon me again, again this terrible, invincible affliction … this hemicrania which grips half the head with pain … without remedy, without escape … I must try not to move my head. …”

Usage notes

Medical term, used in some literary contexts; not used in everyday speech. Instead more general headache or more specific migraine used.

Synonyms

• megrim
• migraine

Related terms

• megrim
• migraine

Derived terms

• hemicranial