dissociation

(dis-ō″sē-ā′shŏn, shē-)

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[L. dissociatio, separation]

1. In chemistry, the separation of ions when a salt is dissolved.
2. The ability to move one body segment independently of another.
3. In psychiatry, the separation of identity, memory, and cognition from affect; the splitting of ideas and memory about oneself from their emotional and historical underpinnings.
SYN: SEE: dissociative reaction
4. A trancelike state.

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