cretin
See also: crétin
English edit
Etymology edit
From French crétin (“cretin, idiot”), likely from crestin, an Alpine dialectal form of chrétien, from Latin christiānus in the lost sense of “anyone in Christendom”, often with a sense of “poor fellow”. Doublet of Christian.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɹiːtɪn/, /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛtɪn, (US) -iːtɪn
- Homophone: Cretan (one pronunciation)
Noun edit
cretin (plural cretins)
- (pathology) A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism. [from 1779]
- (by extension, derogatory) An idiot.
- 1969, Irving Wallace, The Seven Minutes:
- When I challenged the symbolism, tried to make the professor consider the book as a piece of realism, he regarded me as if I were an absolute cretin. He got very supercilious and condescending […]
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus:idiot
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
person who fails to develop due to congenital hypothyroidism
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pejorative: an idiot
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading edit
- Cretinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Category:Category:Cretinism on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Anagrams edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French crétin, from Latin Christianus; doublet of the inherited creștin.
Noun edit
cretin m (plural cretini)
Declension edit
Declension of cretin
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) cretin | cretinul | (niște) cretini | cretinii |
genitive/dative | (unui) cretin | cretinului | (unor) cretini | cretinilor |
vocative | cretinule | cretinilor |