Delusion : (noun)
1: (psychology) an erroneous belief that is held in the face of
evidence to the contrary [syn: psychotic belief]
2: a mistaken or unfounded opinion or idea; "he has delusions
of competence"; "his dreams of vast wealth are a
hallucination" [syn: hallucination]
3: the act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas
[syn: illusion, head game]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Delusion : \De*lu"sion\n. [L. delusio, fr. deludere. See
Delude.]
1. The act of deluding; deception; a misleading of the mind.
--Pope.
2. The state of being deluded or misled.
3. That which is falsely or delusively believed or
propagated; false belief; error in belief.
And fondly mourned the dear delusion gone. --Prior.
Syn: Delusion, Illusion.
Usage: These words both imply some deception practiced upon
the mind. Delusion is deception from want of
knowledge; illusion is deception from morbid
imagination. An illusion is a false show, a mere cheat
on the fancy or senses. It is, in other words, some
idea or image presented to the bodily or mental vision
which does not exist in reality. A delusion is a false
judgment, usually affecting the real concerns of life.
Or, in other words, it is an erroneous view of
something which exists indeed, but has by no means the
qualities or attributes ascribed to it. Thus we speak
of the illusions of fancy, the illusions of hope,
illusive prospects, illusive appearances, etc. In like
manner, we speak of the delusions of stockjobbing, the
delusions of honorable men, delusive appearances in
trade, of being deluded by a seeming excellence. ``A
fanatic, either religious or political, is the subject
of strong delusions; while the term illusion is
applied solely to the visions of an uncontrolled
imagination, the chimerical ideas of one blinded by
hope, passion, or credulity, or lastly, to spectral
and other ocular deceptions, to which the word
delusion is never applied.'' --Whately.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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DELUSION, med. jurisp. A diseased state of the mind, in which persons
believe things to exist, which exist only, or in the degree they are
conceived of only in their own imaginations, with a persuasion so fixed and
firm, that neither evidence nor argument can convince them to the contrary.
2. The individual is, of course, insane. For example, should a parent
unjustly persist without the least ground in attributing to his daughter a
course of vice, and use her with uniform unkindness, there not being the
slightest pretence or color of reason for the supposition, a just inference
of insanity, or delusion, would arise in the minds of a jury: because a
supposition long entertained and persisted in, after argument to the
contrary, and against the natural affections of a parent, suggests that he
must labor under some morbid mental delusion. 3 Addams' R. 90, 91; Id. 180;
Hagg. R. 27 and see Dr. Connolly's Inquiry into Insanity, 384; Ray, Med.
Jur. Prel. Views., Sec. 20, p. 41, and Sec. 22, p. 47; 3 Addams, R. 79; 1
Litt. R. 371 Annales d'Hygiene Publique, tom. 3, p. 370; 8 Watts, 70; 13
Ves. 89; 1 Pow. Dev. by Jarman, 130, note Shelf. on Lun. 296; 2 Bouv. Inst.
n. 2104-10.
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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Delusion : Delusion: A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and is not explained by a person's usual cultural and religious concepts (so that, for example, it is
not an article of faith). A delusion may be firmly maintained in the face of incontrovertible evidence that it is false. Delusions are a frequent feature of schizophrenia .
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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