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agoraphobia

noun

  1. phobic disorder involving the specific anxiety about being in a place or situation where escape is difficult or embarrassing or where help may be unavailable.
L316128 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/ / /əˌɡɔː.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/ / /ˌæɡ.ɚ.əˈfoʊ.bi.ə/

noun

Etymology: From Latin agoraphobia, from Ancient Greek ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly”) + φοβία (phobía, “fear”). By surface analysis, agora + -phobia. Coined by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal in 1871.

  1. The fear of wide open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions.

    Now, you know that the classical analytical explanation of agoraphobia of the early 1900s was that it represented a street phobia because the patient equated streetwalking with prostitutional activity[…]

  2. An aversion to markets.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:agoraphobia.