| echolalia |
| Definition: The immediate, involuntary repeating of words or phrases just spoken by others. Note: In educational psychology the term denotes "the repeating of words and phrases by children who are learning to speak." |
| Example:
Dave: "Hi Bob." Bob: "Hi Bob." Dave: "I'm not Bob. I'm Dave. You're Bob!" Bob: "I'm not Bob. I'm Dave. You're Bob!" Dave: "Shut up! Bob!" Bob: "Shut up! Bob!" |
| Etymology: The word was coined by combining the word echo (from the Greek ekhe, sound) with the Greek-derived suffix lalia, a speaking. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first OED citation is from 1885: "Periphrastic forms of speech and the recurring or barrel-organ utterances, constituting what is known as echolalia." (Buck's Handbook Med. Sci. I. 290/1) |