epi-, on, in.-lepsy（てんかん）、取る、保持する、つかむ、語源的にはlemma（カタレプシー）、カタレプシーと同じ。
英語の語源
epilepsy
epilepsy: [16] Etymologically, epilepsy is the Greek equivalent of English seizure or attack. The word comes, via French or Latin, from Greek epilēpsíā, a derivative of epilambánein ‘seize upon’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix epí- ‘on’ and lambánein ‘take hold of’.
epilepsy (n.)
1570s, from Middle French epilepsie (16c.), from Late Latin epilepsia, from Greek epilepsis "epilepsy," literally "a seizure," from epilambanein "to lay hold of, seize upon, attack," especially of diseases, but also of events, armies, etc., from epi "upon" (see epi-) + lepsis "seizure," from leps-, future stem of lambanein "take hold of, grasp" (see analemma). Earlier was epilencie (late 14c.), from Middle French epilence, a variant form influenced by pestilence. The native name in English was falling sickness.
例文
1. She has epilepsy .
彼女はてんかんを患っている。
2.He couldn 't take that job at the zoo because of his epilepsy .
てんかんを患っているため動物園の仕事を受け入れることができなかった。
3. The mechanism of post traumatic epilepsy ( PTE ) is unclear.
外傷後てんかん（posttraumatic epilepsy ，PTE）の発症機序は不明である.
4.People with epilepsy and similar diseases can take pills to stabilize their condition.
てんかんと類似疾患の患者は錠剤を飲んで病状を安定させることができる。
5.Atonic seizures：An independent epilepsy type or epilepsy syndrome？