Down syndrome

English

WOTD – 7 October 2016

Alternative forms

Etymology

Named after John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), an English physician who first described the condition as a distinct form of mental disability in the 1860s.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /daʊn ˈsɪndɹəʊm/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /daʊn ˈsɪndɹoʊm/, /-dɹəm/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: Down syn‧drome

Proper noun

Down syndrome

  1. (neurology, chiefly US, Australia, New Zealand) A genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21 (a chromosomal excess), whereby the patients typically have a delay in cognitive ability and physical growth, as well as a small head and tilted eyelids. [from 1961.]

Usage notes

The condition is known only as Down's syndrome in the UK and Canada.

Synonyms

Translations

Further reading

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