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manicomio

mental asylum

noun mah-nee-KOH-myoh Rare
Body & Health Medicine

Origin: From Greek mania (madness) + komein (to care for).

Also means

madhouse

Usage Note

Manicomio is the historical term for a psychiatric institution; since the 1978 Basaglia Law (legge 180) closed Italian asylums, it is no longer an official term. Today it is used informally and figuratively to mean chaos or disorder: questa riunione è un manicomio (this meeting is a madhouse). The plural is manicomi.

Examples

"Quella situazione era un vero manicomio."

Natural Translation

That situation was a real madhouse.

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