Noun: insanity
| Singular | insanity |
| Plural | insanities |
Sample Sentences
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The defendant pleaded insanity in the hope of getting a reduced sentence.
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But the bed-side of Lady Marchmont had a darker lesson than the grave, the ravings of insanity revealed the fiery world of that beating and passionate heart. Ethel could only feel too fearful, too humbled, for judgment; but she wept, even while she prayed, beside her early friend. [1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Chamber of Death”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 271:]
Nouns inflected like insanity
clitoridectomy,
royal jelly,
whoopsy,
surrogacy,
urinary,
rastrography,
renoscopy,
sourtop blueberry,
forcible entry,
superficiary,
lipidosity,
potability,
phonography,
hyperproperty,
greenery,
conjugality,
ring singularity,
Brittany,
ignobility,
obscurity, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
1. A three-part word (root 'sane', prefix 'in-' meaning 'not', suffix '-ity', meaning 'the state of'). Derived from Latin precursory equivalents. Two possible candidates for construction order:
2. * insane + -ity: īnsānus (“unhealthy; insane”) + -itās
3. *: Latin īnsānus (“unsound in mind; mad, insane”), from in- + sānus (“sound, sane”). Modern forms of roots: in- + sane
4. * in- + sanity: in- (“lacking; without”) + sānitās (“health; sanity”)
5. *: Latin sānitās (“sound in mind; sane”), from sānus + -itās. Modern forms of roots: sane + -ity See: Latin Nouns '
īnsānus', Latin Nouns '
sānitās'.