Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The biological study of birth defects.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Narration of what is marvelous or prodigious; exaggeration in description.
  • noun In anat., zoöl., and botany, the science of animal or vegetable monstrosities; that department of biology which treats of malformations, or monstrous or abnormal growths, in the animal or the vegetable kingdom.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That branch of biological science which treats of monstrosities, malformations, or deviations from the normal type of structure, either in plants or animals.
  • noun obsolete Affectation of sublimity; bombast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine The study of teratogenesis, congenital malformations or grossly deformed individuals.
  • noun toxicology The study of the mechanisms, teratogenic agents, or teratogens, in bringing about malformations.
  • noun obsolete Affectation of sublimity; bombast.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the branch of biology concerned with the development of malformations or serious deviations from the normal type of organism

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word teratology.

Examples

  • What the word teratogenic means (teratology is the study of abnormalities in physical development).

    Interesting stuff from Interesting « One Size Fits One 2009

  • MOOS: He finally coughed out the word teratology (ph) correctly, a spelling bee sure can sting.

    CNN Transcript Jun 1, 2007 2007

  • In addition, the trainee will see patients who have questions regarding prenatal diagnosis and teratology.

    Clinical Genetics Service 2010

  • I decide to put the question to Ken Jones, the doctor who defined fetal alcohol syndrome more than thirty-five years ago, and who is now chief of the teratology division in the department of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.

    Origins Annie Murphy Paul 2010

  • Chief FDA Scientist, Dr. Thomas Xavier Collins, investigated two mice teratology (birth defects) studies.

    FDA HID RESEARCH THAT DAMNED ASPARTAME: Fatal studies should have blocked NutraSweet approval 2009

  • Today, as Blumberg describes, teratology as a science has come to mean the study of congenital malformations.

    Sanctuary And The Real Science of Abnormals 2009

  • She claims to be a student of teratology, which she explains as the science of monsters.

    Sanctuary And The Real Science of Abnormals 2009

  • Now, in his recently published book Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us about Development and Evolution, Mark S. Blumberg takes us on a tour of real-life teratology, and how understanding abnormalities is casting new light on the relationship between the genetic and non-genetic forces that shape us all.

    Sanctuary And The Real Science of Abnormals 2009

  • Lahzars and calendars are very much working against such norms, and teratology (monster-hunting) is probably one of the few areas where a woman can achieve as much notoriety as a man (if she was not born with status already).

    The WritingYA Weblog: Winter Blog Blast Tour, Day Two: D.M. Cornish a. fortis 2008

  • Lahzars and calendars are very much working against such norms, and teratology (monster-hunting) is probably one of the few areas where a woman can achieve as much notoriety as a man (if she was not born with status already).

    Archive 2008-11-01 a. fortis 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • There's a wonderful museum in Philadelphia called the Mütter Museum that specializes in this subject.

    May 13, 2008

  • Yes! Thanks, whichbe. I've linked to it a couple of times here on Wordie, but I can't remember where at the moment.

    May 13, 2008

  • So a series of four novels featuring monster-like characters with congenital abnormalities would be a teratology tetralogy?

    December 11, 2008

  • (noun) - (1) Affectation of false sublimity.

    --Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, 1755

    (2) Teratology is when bold writers, fond of the sublime, intermix something great and prodigious in everything they write, whether there be foundation for it in reason or not, that this is call'd bombast.

    --Nathaniel Bailey's Etymological English Dictionary, 1727

    (3) A discourse of prodigies and wonders.

    --Edward Phillips' New World of English Words, 1678

    (4) A marvellous tale, or collection of such tales.

    --Sir James Murray's New English Dictionary, 1919

    January 19, 2018