ectopia

American

[ek-toh-pee-uh] / ɛkˈtoʊ pi ə /

noun

Medicine/Medical.

the usually congenital displacement of an organ or part.

ectopia British

/ ɛkˈtɒpɪk, ɛkˈtəʊpɪə /

noun

med congenital displacement or abnormal positioning of an organ or part

"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

Other Word Forms

ectopic adjective

Etymology

Origin of ectopia

1840–50; < New Latin < Greek éktop ( os ) out of place ( ek- ec- + tópos place) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Carrying out all of the procedures at once, on a patient with ectopia cordis, has never been done in this country before, the team says.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2025

Described by experts as "one of a kind", Vanellope had three operations to place her heart back in her chest due to an extremely rare condition called ectopia cordis.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2025

The condition, ectopia cordis, is extremely rare, with only a few cases per million births, of which most are stillborn.

From BBC • Dec. 23, 2017

The exposed heart was a case of rare ectopia cordis, of which 28 cases have been recorded since 1706.

From Time Magazine Archive

No. 31 was probably a case of ectopia cordis.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023