Stupor, n.
Etymology: [L., from stupere to be struck senseless.]
1. Great diminution or suspension of sensibility; suppression of sense or feeling; lethargy.
2. Intellectual insensibility; moral stupidity; heedlessness or inattention to one's interests.
Shades of meaning
Stupor is a condition of the body in which the action of the senses and faculties is suspended or greatly dulled--weakness or loss of sensibility. The apathy of disease is a mental affection, a state of morbid indifference; lethargy is a morbid tendency to heavy and continued sleep, from which the patient may perhaps be momentarily aroused. Coma is a deep, abnormal sleep, from which the patient can not be aroused, or is aroused only with difficulty, a state of profound insensibility, perhaps with full pulse and deep, stertorous breathing, and is due to brain-oppression. Syncope or swooning is a sudden loss of sensation and of power of motion, with suspension of pulse and of respiration, and is due to failure of heart-action, as from sudden nervous shock or intense mental emotion. Insensibility is a general term denoting loss of feeling from any cause, as from cold, intoxication, or injury. Stupor is especially profound and confirmed insensibility, properly comatose. Asphyxia is a special form of syncope resulting from partial or total suspension of respiration, as in strangulation, drowning, or inhalation of noxious gases.