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deformity

[dih-fawr-mi-tee]
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noun, plural de·form·i·ties.
  1. the quality or state of being deformed, disfigured, or misshapen.
  2. Pathology. an abnormally formed part of the body.
  3. a deformed person or thing.
  4. hatefulness; ugliness.
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Origin of deformity

1350–1400; Middle English deformite < Old French < Latin dēfōrmitās, equivalent to dēfōrm(is) deform2 + -itās -ity
Related formsnon·de·for·mi·ty, noun, plural non·de·for·mi·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for deformity

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Pericles was usually represented with a helmet, to cover the deformity in his skull.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Hitherto Meg's experience had been that it was a thing to be slurred over, like a deformity.

    Jan and Her Job

    L. Allen Harker

  • And if this is true, Love is the love of beauty and not of deformity?

  • He referred to the fact that they are subject to hardly any deformity.

    Aztec Land

    Maturin M. Ballou

  • When you have done this the deformity will indicate the location of the fracture.

    Boy Scouts Handbook

    Boy Scouts of America

British Dictionary definitions for deformity

deformity

noun plural -ties
  1. a deformed condition; disfigurement
  2. pathol an acquired or congenital distortion of an organ or part
  3. a deformed person or thing
  4. a defect, esp of the mind or morals; depravity
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deformity

n.

early 15c., diformyte, from Old French deformité "deformity, disfigurement," from Latin deformitatem (nominative deformitas) "ugliness," from deformis "misformed, misshapen," from deformare (see deform).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
deformity in Medicine

deformity

(dĭ-fôr′mĭ-tē)
n.
  1. The state of being deformed.
  2. A deviation from the normal shape or size of a body part, resulting in disfigurement.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.