cretinism: Meaning and Definition of

cre•tin•ism

Pronunciation: (krēt'n-iz"um or, esp. Brit., kret'-), [key]
— n. Pathol.
  1. a congenital disease due to absence or deficiency of normal thyroid secretion, characterized by physical deformity, dwarfism, and mental retardation, and often by goiter.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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