Mongolian idiocy

noun

(often lowercase)

1. (no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) Down syndrome.

Other Word Forms

• Mongolian idiot noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mongolian idiocy¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Twice in every 1,000 births, some unhappy mother finds that she has borne a child suffering from an affliction which has been misnamed "Mongolian idiocy."

Read more on Time Magazine Archive

A certain variety of idiocy, Mongolian idiocy, in which the face simulates cretinism so closely as to deceive practised clinical observers, is characterized by a Chinese cast of the features and eyes, hence the name.

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