echolalia

[ ek-oh-ley-lee-uh ]

noun

1. Psychiatry. the uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by another person.
2. the imitation by a baby of the vocal sounds produced by others, occurring as a natural phase of childhood development.

echolalia

/ ˌɛkəʊˈlælɪk; ˌɛkəʊˈleɪlɪə /

noun

1. psychiatry the tendency to repeat mechanically words just spoken by another person: can occur in cases of brain damage, mental retardation, and schizophrenia

Derived Forms

• echolalic, adjective

Other Words From

• ech·o·lal·ic [ek-oh-, lal, -ik, -, ley, -lik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of echolalia¹

First recorded in 1880–85; echo + -lalia

Word History and Origins

Origin of echolalia¹

C19: from New Latin, from echo + Greek lalia talk, chatter, from lalein to chatter

Example Sentences

Yewdall, who had limited verbal skills, often repeated words and phrases she heard other people say, a condition called echolalia.

From Seattle Times

The repetition of speech is called echolalia and is a common sign of autism.

From Washington Post

His language is limited to nonsensical word groupings and repeating what is said to him — an echolalia that is a hallmark of autism.

From New York Times

When Leo Kanner, an Austrian-American psychiatrist and physician, first described autism in 1943, he wrote about children with “extreme autistic aloneness,” “delayed echolalia” and an “anxiously obsessive desire for the maintenance of sameness.”

From Science Magazine

Has there ever been such a deafening storm of political echolalia?

From The Guardian