The DICT Development Group

  Paralysis \Pa*ral"y*sis\, n. [L., fr. Gr. para`lysis, fr.
     paraly`ein to loosen, dissolve, or disable at the side; para`
     beside + ly`ein to loosen. See Para-, and Loose, and cf.
     Palsy.] (Med.)
     Abolition of function, whether complete or partial; esp., the
     loss of the power of voluntary motion, with or without that
     of sensation, in any part of the body; palsy. See
     Hemiplegia, and Paraplegia. Also used figuratively; as,
     paralysis of the will. "Utter paralysis of memory." --G.
     Eliot.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Mischievous practices arising out of the paralysis of
           the powers of ownership.                 --Duke of
                                                    Argyll (1887).
     [1913 Webster]

  paralysis
      n 1: loss of the ability to move a body part [syn: paralysis,
           palsy]

  129 Moby Thesaurus words for "paralysis":
     a wise passiveness, abscess, ague, anemia, ankylosis, anoxia,
     apnea, apoplexy, asphyxiation, asthma, ataxia, atrophy, backache,
     bleeding, blennorhea, cachexia, cachexy, catalepsy, cataplexy,
     chill, chills, colic, constipation, contemplation,
     contemplative life, convulsion, coughing, cyanosis, diarrhea,
     diplegia, dizziness, do-nothing policy, do-nothingism,
     do-nothingness, dormancy, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, dyspnea,
     edema, emaciation, fainting, fatigue, fever, fibrillation, flux,
     growth, hemiplegia, hemorrhage, high blood pressure, hydrops,
     hypertension, hypotension, icterus, idleness, immobility, inaction,
     inactivity, indigestion, indolence, inertia, inertness,
     infantile paralysis, inflammation, insomnia, itching, jaundice,
     labored breathing, laissez-aller, laissez-faire, laissez-faireism,
     low blood pressure, lumbago, marasmus, meditation, nasal discharge,
     nausea, necrosis, neutralism, neutrality, neutralness,
     noninvolvement, nonparticipation, nonresistance, nonviolence,
     nonviolent resistance, pacifism, pain, palsy, paraplegia, paresis,
     passive resistance, passive self-annihilation, passiveness,
     passivism, passivity, policy, polio, poliomyelitis,
     procrastination, pruritus, quiescence, quietism, rash, rheum,
     sclerosis, seizure, sensory paralysis, shock, skin eruption,
     sneezing, sore, spasm, stagnancy, stagnation, standpattism, stasis,
     stroke, tabes, tachycardia, tumor, upset stomach, vegetation,
     vertigo, vita contemplativa, vomiting, waiting game, wasting,
     watching and waiting