Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysis[1] or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and the loss of feeling and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking.
The word originates from the Anglo-Norman paralisie, parleisie et al., from the accusative form of Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis), from παραλύειν (paralúein, "to disable on one side"), from παρά (pará, "beside") + λύειν (lúein, "loosen").
The word is longstanding in the English language, having appeared in the play Grim the Collier of Croydon, reported to have been written as early as 1599: Rob.
[2]In some editions, the Bible passage of Luke 5:18 is translated to refer to "a man which was taken with a palsy".
Although the term has historically been associated with paralysis generally, "is now almost always used in connection to the word cerebral—meaning the brain".