Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BED'LAM, n. [Corrupted from Bethlehem, the name of a religious house in London, afterward converted into a hospital for lunatics.]

1. A mad-house; a place appropriated for lunatics. – Spelman.
2. A madman; a lunatic; one who lives in Bedlam. – Shak.
3. A place of uproar.