A state of abnormal muscle tension or rigidity, particularly the condition where someone becomes unresponsive and their body becomes stiff or waxy.
Direct derivation from Greek 'kata' (down) + 'tonos' (tone), literally meaning 'down-tension.' It's a variant medical term for catatonia used in some European medical traditions.
The 'waxy flexibility' that sometimes appears in catatony is so eerie that it inspired horror writers—a person's limbs can be moved into positions and stay there like a statue. Doctors in the 1800s didn't understand why brains could do this.
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