phocomelia

pho·co·me·li·a

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [foh-koh-mee-lee-uh, -meel-yuh]
- /ˌfoʊ koʊˈmi li ə, -ˈmil yə/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [foh-koh-mee-lee-uh, -meel-yuh]
- /ˌfoʊ koʊˈmi li ə, -ˈmil yə/

Definitions of phocomelia word

noun phocomelia a usually congenital deformity of the extremities in which the limbs are abnormally short. 1
noun phocomelia a congenital deformity resulting from prenatal interference with the development of the fetal limbs, characterized esp by short stubby hands or feet attached close to the body 0
noun phocomelia the congenital absence or abnormal shortening of arms or legs, often with only short, flipperlike limbs projecting from the body 0

See all 3 definitions of phocomelia

Information block about the term

Origin of phocomelia

First appearance:

before 1890

One of the 20% newest English words

1890-95; < New Latin, equivalent to phōco-, combining form representing Greek phṓkē seal + -melia -melia

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Phocomelia

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Phocomelia

phocomelia popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 48% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

phocomelia usage trend in Literature

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