intellectual disability

[in-tl-ek-choo-uhl dis-uh-bil-i-tee]

noun

1. a developmental disorder characterized in varying degrees by significant limitations on intellectual abilities, such as learning, problem solving, and reasoning, and on adaptive abilities such as social and practical skills: the diagnostic term intellectual disability replaced the older designation mental retardation in the 2010s. ID

Word History and Origins

Origin of intellectual disability¹

First recorded in 1805–10

Related Words

• cognitive impairment 
• debilitation 
• impairment 
• incapacitation 
• limitation 
• restriction