What does obstipation mean?
Obstipation is a rare noun with two established senses. In modern medical writing it denotes constipation, the condition of difficult or infrequent bowel movements; expressions such as “chronic obstipation” occur in clinical discussion. Older general usage, now archaic or obsolete, used the word for stubbornness or obstinacy. Because the medical sense is specialized and the older sense survives mainly in historical writing, the term is encountered far less often than synonyms such as constipation or obstinacy. Its unfamiliar ending can nevertheless make it sound more obscure than it is, since both meanings are long established in English. The word is also useful as an example of how a single form can move between a broad behavioral description and a technical medical diagnosis while retaining an unusually formal tone.
nounA rare noun meaning constipation or, in older usage, stubbornness or obstinacy.
- The condition of being constipated; constipation.
- Stubbornness or obstinacy, especially an insistence that is difficult to overcome.
"The patient was admitted after several days of obstipation and severe abdominal discomfort."
"The patient was admitted after several days of obstipation and severe abdominal discomfort."
"Her obstipation in refusing every reasonable proposal delayed the agreement."
The plural is grammatically possible but uncommon; the word is normally used as an uncountable noun for the condition.
"Recurrent obstipations were documented during the study."
Obstipation has a linguistic double life: in medicine it can mean constipation, while its older general meaning was stubbornness.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does obstipation come from?
Obstipation was borrowed into English from Medieval Latin obstipatio, a derivative of Latin obstipāre, associated with being or making obstinate. The same Latin root underlies English obstinate and obstinacy. Its older general sense denoted stubbornness, while the medical sense for constipation developed within technical usage.
How obstipation is actually used
Rare and formal. The constipation sense is technical and medical, while the older sense meaning stubbornness is archaic or obsolete in current general English.
Easily confused with obstipation
Constipation is the ordinary modern term for difficult or infrequent bowel movements, whereas obstipation is a rarer, more formal medical synonym.