According to MedicineNet.com:

Vertigo is a feeling that you are dizzily turning around or that things are dizzily turning about you. Vertigo is usually due to a problem with the inner ear. Vertigo can also be caused by vision problems.

The word “vertigo” comes from the Latin “vertere”, to turn + the suffix “-igo”, a condition = a condition of turning about). Vertigo is medically distinct from dizziness, lightheadedness, and unsteadiness.

After a chase on the rooftops of San Francisco, John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson (James Stuart) starts suffering from it. He’s even afraid to get on small ladders. He has to quite his job and leaves the police force to become a private detective. He’s asked by an old friend to shadow his wife as she has been acting very strange lately. He takes the job and follows the woman everywhere she goes around San Francisco, which results in not only some beautiful shots of the city, but also a suspenseful thriller as only Hitchcock could make them. Continue reading →