Amok
In a violently raging, wild, or
uncontrolled manner, in a murderously
frenzied state
Print evidence of amok in English was first
recorded in the 1600s, when the word was used as a noun meaning "murderous
frenzy." Visitors to Southeast Asia had reported witnessing the suffering
and effects of a psychiatric disorder known in Malay as amok. Typically, the
afflicted person (usually a man) attacked bystanders in a frenzy, killing
everyone in sight until he collapsed or was himself killed.
