autoscopy
|au-to-sco-py|
🇺🇸
/ˌɔːtəˈskɑːpi/
🇬🇧
/ˌɔːtəˈskɒpi/
self-seeing
Etymology
'autoscopy' originates from Modern/Medical Latin and Greek elements: specifically from Greek 'autos' meaning 'self' and 'skopein' meaning 'to look'.
'autoscopy' entered medical and psychological English usage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (via New Latin/medical coinages and French 'autoscopie'), formed from the Greek roots 'autos' + 'skopein'.
Initially it carried the literal sense 'looking at oneself'; over time it became specialized to mean the clinical phenomenon of perceiving one's own body externally (an autoscopic hallucination).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a medical/psychological phenomenon in which a person perceives a visual image of their own body or person in external space (an autoscopic hallucination).
The neurologist described the patient's autoscopy: he reported seeing his own body lying on the bed while feeling awake.
Synonyms
Noun 2
rare/archaic: the act of looking at oneself (self-inspection), from the literal Greek roots meaning 'self' + 'to look'.
In a philosophical text, the author used 'autoscopy' to mean quiet self-observation rather than a clinical hallucination.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/28 14:10