phocomelia

[foh-koh-mee-lee-uh, -meel-yuh]

pho·co·me·li·a

[foh-koh-mee-lee-uh, -meel-yuh]
noun Pathology.
a usually congenital deformity of the extremities in which the limbs are abnormally short.
Also, phokomelia, pho·com·e·ly [foh-kom-uh-lee] .


Origin:
1890–95; < Neo-Latin, equivalent to phōco-, combining form representing Greek phṓkē seal + -melia -melia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Phocomelia has a plethora of syllables.
So is sesquipedalianism. Does it mean:
given to using long words.
the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).
Collins
World English Dictionary
phocomelia or phocomely (ˌfəʊkəʊˈmiːlɪə, fəʊˈkɒməlɪ)
 
n
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
 
[C19: via New Latin from Greek phōkē a seal + melos a limb]
 
phocomely or phocomely
 
n
 
[C19: via New Latin from Greek phōkē a seal + melos a limb]
 
phoco'melic or phocomely
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

phocomelia pho·co·me·li·a (fō'kō-mē'lē-ə, -mēl'yə)
n.
A birth defect in which the upper portion of a limb is absent or poorly developed, so that the hand or foot attaches to the body by a short, flipperlike stump.


pho'co·me'lic (-mē'lĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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