A sensation of dizziness and loss of balance, as if the world is spinning; a feeling of disorientation associated with looking down from a great height.
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Latin16th centurywell-attested
From Latin vertigo (a whirling or spinningmovement, dizziness), genitive vertiginis, derived from the verb vertere meaning to turn or revolve. Vertere descends from thePIE root *wert- (to turn, wind), which is one of the most productive roots in Indo-European languages. From this same root come Latin versus (a turning, a furrow, a line of writing
Did you know?
Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film 'Vertigo' uses theword's etymological resonance brilliantly. The film is not just about fear of heights but about psychological spiraling — the protagonist is caught in a 'turning' of obsession, deception, and repetition. Hitchcock's famous rotating camera effect (the 'dolly zoom') visually literalizes the Latin