Word of the Day

: March 30, 2008

tarantism

noun TAIR-un-tiz-um

What It Means

: a dancing mania or malady of late medieval Europe

tarantism in Context

Victims of tarantism were said to dance ecstatically until they collapsed in total exhaustion.

Did You Know?

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Taranto, Italy, was hit by a dance craze unlike any other. The town was afflicted by a malady that would come to be known as "tarantism" and was characterized by a hysterical impulse to dance. Some people claimed tarantism was caused by the bite of the European wolf spider, which is also known as the tarantula (and is also named after Taranto); such folks declared that dancing off the venom was the only cure. Musicians supposedly traveled to the region to help cure the epidemic, and some believe that the Italian folk dance called the "tarantella" resulted from the craze (though it is also possible that the name of that dance derived independently from "Taranto" and has no connection with "tarantism").