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the loss of a previously held ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain.
contemporary examples

still, she suffered from aphasia, finding it difficult to speak, read and write.
a stroke that hits young women nicole laporte july 27, 2010

historical examples

aphasia, periods of excitement and mental confusion occur in some.
arteriosclerosis and hypertension: louis marshall warfield

you are suffering from an attack of aphasia, which has caused you to forget your ident-ty.
strictly business o. henry

i affected him with a kind of aphasia, erasing the words he wanted from his brain.
secret history revealed by lady peggy o’malley c. n. williamson and a. m. williamson

in clear speech, and in aphasia, they indicated their founder.
the conflict of religions in the early roman empire t. r. glover

the work on the whole is a very valuable contribution to the literature of aphasia, and will be welcomed by all neurologists.
the idiot frederick bateman

the subject of aphasia is treated in all its relations, and in all its forms and modifications.
the idiot frederick bateman

sufferers from aphasia continue to use appropriate gestures after their words have become uncontrollable.
sign language among north american indians compared with that among other peoples and deaf-mutes garrick mallery

he suffers from aphasia, and locomotor ataxia has begun to manifest itself.
unicorns james huneker

hewitt stepped quietly over to the doctor and, without disturbing the man by the fire, said interrogatively, “aphasia?”
chronicles of martin hewitt arthur morrison

noun
a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by partial or total loss of the ability to communicate, esp in speech or writing compare alexia
n.

“loss of ability to speak,” especially as result of brain injury or disorder, 1867, from modern latin aphasia, from greek aphasia “speechlessness,” from a- “without” (see a- (3)) + phasis “utterance,” from phanai “to speak,” related to pheme “voice, report, rumor” (see fame (n.)).

aphasia is the term which has recently been given to the loss of the faculty of articulate language, the organs of phonation and of articulation, as well as the intelligence, being unimpaired. the pathology of this affection is at the present time the subject of much discussion in the scientific world; the french academy devoted several of their séances during the year 1865 to its special elucidation, and the medical journals of france and of our own country have lately contained a good deal of original matter bearing upon this obscure feature in cerebral pathology. [frederic bateman, m.d., “aphasia,” london, 1868]

aphasia a·pha·sia (ə-fā’zhə)
n.
partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from brain damage due to injury or disease. also called logagnosia, logamnesia, logasthenia.
a·pha’si·ac’ (-zē-āk’) n.
a·pha’sic (-zĭk, -sĭk) adj. & n.
aphasia
(ə-fā’zhə)
partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease.