echolalia
nounUK /ˌɛkə(ʊ)ˈleɪlɪə/ · US /ˌɛkoʊˈleɪliə/
Etymology From echo- + -lalia; echo- ultimately from Ancient Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ, “reflected sound, echo”), -lalia from λαλιά (laliá, “talk, chat”).
1
Clinical psychology, Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences The involuntary repetitive echoing of words or phrases spoken by another person; either immediate or delayed.
- Their echolalic responses may be much more extensive than the single words or short phrases that are characteristic of normal echolalia. Thus, a pseudoverbal autistic child may respond to "Do you want a cookie, Jimmy?" with a replication of the very same words.1984, Jon Eisenson, Aphasia and related disorders in children, page 30:
- A child older than 24 months with echolalia as the only language is likely to receive a diagnosis of ASD[.]2026 March 23, Marcio Moacyr Vasconcelos, Luciana Gonçalves Azevedo Vasconcelos, Adriana Rocha Brito, “Unveiling autism spectrum disorder for the pediatrician”, in Jornal de Pediatria, volume 102, supplement 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 3:
2
An infant's repetitive imitation of vocal sounds spoken by another person, occurring naturally during childhood development.
3
Any apparently meaningless, repetitious noises, especially voices.
- There was the boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden.1926, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Penguin, published 2000, page 50:
- Derived terms
- autoecholalia, echolalic