inhibition

Pronunciation: in′hi-bi′shŭn

Definition:

1. Depression or arrest of a function.
2. In psychoanalysis, the restraining of instinctive or unconscious drives or tendencies, especially if they conflict with one's conscience or with societal demands.
3. In psychology, a generic term for a variety of processes associated with the gradual attenuation, masking, and extinction of a previously conditioned response.
4. The reduction of the rate of a reaction or process.

[L. inhibeo, pp. -hibitus, to keep back, fr. habeo, to have]

See Also: inhibitor

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