the.com/senility
An outdated word for the memory and thinking decline that old age can bring, now usually traced to specific illnesses.
means The decline in memory and mental sharpness that can come with old age.
from From Latin 'senilis,' meaning 'of old age,' rooted in 'senex' — 'old man' or 'old' — the same root that gives us 'senior' and 'senate' (literally, a council of elders). Over time 'senility' narrowed from simply describing old age to naming the mental decline sometimes associated with it.
- not a diagnosis
- doctors avoid the term entirely now
- real culprit
- usually dementia, not normal aging itself
- old meaning
- once just meant old age, period
- myth busted
- most elderly brains stay sharp lifelong