What does concuss mean?
"Concuss" is a transitive verb meaning to injure a person's brain by subjecting it to a violent blow or jolt — most often to the head — producing what doctors call a concussion: temporary confusion, dizziness, headache, or loss of consciousness. In everyday use the word appears far more often in its passive participle form, as in "he was concussed," than as a bare active verb, and it belongs chiefly to medical, sports-reporting, and news contexts. A footballer who collides heavily with an opponent may be concussed and withdrawn from play under protocols designed to protect players from repeated brain injury. The word derives from the Latin concutere, meaning "to shake violently," formed from the prefix con- ("together") and quatere ("to shake"), the same root that gives us discussion and percussion. Concuss is therefore a precise, clinical alternative to vaguer phrases like "got his bell rung," making it valuable for anyone writing about injury, sport, or medicine.
verbTo injure someone's brain by a blow or jolt to the head, typically causing temporary loss of consciousness, confusion, or memory disturbance; in other words, to give someone a concussion.
- (of an impact) To injure the brain of a person by a blow to the head, causing concussion.
"The rugby player was concussed after a heavy collision and had to leave the field immediately."
"She was concussed when she fell off her bike without wearing a helmet."
"The boxer was badly concussed in the third round and the fight was stopped."
Concuss and discuss come from the same ancient verb — one means to shake apart with words, the other to shake the brain itself.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of concuss
"Concuss" comes from the Latin concutere, meaning "to shake violently or strike hard," built from the intensive prefix con- and quatere, "to shake." The same Latin root produced English words such as "discussion" (literally a shaking-apart of ideas) and "percussion" (a striking). The word entered English in the early modern period alongside the noun "concussion," which was established in medical usage somewhat earlier. Its modern sense narrowed from general shaking or jolting specifically to the injuring of the brain.
Related word forms
How concuss is actually used
"Concuss" is used almost exclusively in medical, sporting, and journalistic registers. It is most commonly met in its past participle form "concussed" (e.g., "he was concussed"); the simple active form is comparatively rare. The word is fully standard in both British and American English.
Easily confused with concuss
Discuss means to talk over something at length, while concuss refers to injuring the brain by a blow; they share a Latin root but differ completely in meaning.