petit mal

Definition of Petit Mal in English :

epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (and possibly other abnormalities)

Example Sentences:
'she has been suffering from petit mal since childhood'

2. epilepsia minor, petit mal

a seizure of short duration characterized by momentary unconsciousness and local muscle spasms or twitching

Example Sentences:
'the girl was frightened by her first petit mal'

WordNet Lexical Database for English. Princeton University. 2010.

Petit Mal

noun

a mild form of epilepsy characterized by periods of impairment or loss of consciousness for up to 30 seconds

Compare grand mal

a type of epilepsy in which there are attacks of momentary unconsciousness without convulsions