paroxysm

Etymology

From French paroxysme, from Medieval Latin paroxysmus (“severe illness, fit of agony, paroxysm”), from Ancient Greek παροξυσμός (paroxusmós, “irritation, the severe fit of a disease”). Analyzable as para- + oxy- + -ism.

noun

1. A random or sudden outburst (of activity).
   Indeed in his excitement at this breakthrough he inadvertently dug his nails into the nurse's bottom, a gesture she misinterpreted, so that he had to suffer a paroxysm of breasts and loins in response. 1983, John Fowles, Mantissa
   The Russian soldier left a trail of blood and devastated lives in a last paroxysm of violence only hours before Russian troops began withdrawing. 2022-12-31, Carlotta Gall, Oleksandr Chubko, “In Bucha, a Final Rampage Served as a Coda to a Month of Atrocities”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. An explosive event during a volcanic eruption.
3. A sudden recurrence of a disease, such as a seizure or a coughing fit.