insanity (redirected from Bats in the belfry)

insanity /in·san·i·ty/ (in-san´it-e) a legal term for mental illness of such degree that the individual is not responsible for his or her acts.insane´

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in·san·i·ty (n-sn-t)

n.

1. Persistent mental disorder or derangement. Not in scientific use.

2. Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility.

3. In most criminal jurisdictions, a degree of mental malfunctioning considered to be sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act committed.

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insanity

[insan′itē]

Etymology: L, in, not, sanus, sound

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Usage notes: informal.

a term used more in legal and social than in medical terminology. It refers to those mental illnesses that are of such a serious or debilitating nature as to interfere with one's capability of functioning within the legal limits of society and performing the normal activities of daily living.

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insanity

Forensic medicine A legal and social term for a condition that renders the affected person unfit to enjoy liberty of action, because of the unreliability of his behavior with concomitant danger to himself and others; insanity denotes, by extension, a degree of mental illness that negates legal responsibility for one's actions. See Psychosis, Temporary insanity Psychiatry A vague obsolete term for psychosis.