What is "shaking palsy"

Palsy \Pal"sy\, n.; pl. Palsies. [OE. palesie, parlesy, OF. paralesie, F. paralysie, L. paralysis. See Paralysis.] (Med.) Paralysis, complete or partial. See Paralysis. ``One sick of the palsy.''
--Mark ii. 3.

Bell's palsy, paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face; -- so called from Sir Charles Bell, an English surgeon who described it.

Scrivener's palsy. See Writer's cramp, under Writer.

Shaking palsy, (Med.) paralysis agitans, a disease usually occurring in old people, characterized by muscular tremors and a peculiar shaking and tottering gait; now called parkinsonism, or Parkinson's disease.

n. a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system characterized by tremor and impaired muscular coordination [syn: paralysis agitans, Parkinsonism, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, Parkinson's]