cretin
See also: crétin
English
Etymology
From French crétin (“cretin, idiot”), 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
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɹiːtɪn/, /ˈkɹɛtɪn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛtɪn, (US) -iːtɪn
- Homophone: Cretan (one pronunciation)
Noun
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 […]
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Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:idiot
Derived terms
Derived terms
- cretinism
- cretinize
- cretinoid
- cretinous
Translations
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.
Translations to be checked
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Further reading
- Cretinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Category:Cretinism on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Anagrams
- centri-, cinter, citren, crinet
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French crétin, from Latin Christianus; doublet of the inherited creștin.
Noun
cretin m (plural cretini)
- idiot
Declension
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 |
Synonyms
- idiot, prost, tâmpit