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congenital

 
(kən-jĕn'ĭ-tl) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Of or relating to a condition that is present at birth, as a result of either heredity or environmental influences: a congenital heart defect; congenital syphilis.
  2. Being or having an essential characteristic as if by nature; inherent or inveterate: "the congenital American optimism that denies conflicts and imagines all stories having happy endings" (Robert J. Samuelson). See synonyms at innate.

[From Latin congenitus : com-, com- + genitus, born, past participle of gignere, to bear.]

congenitally con·gen'i·tal·ly adv.

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Roget's Thesaurus:

congenital

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adjective

  1. Possessed at birth: hereditary, inborn, inherited, innate, native. See be, native/foreign.
  2. Forming an essential element, as arising from the basic structure of an individual: built-in, connatural, constitutional, elemental, inborn, inbred, indigenous, indwelling, ingrained, inherent, innate, intrinsic, native, natural. See be, native/foreign, start/end.

Antonyms by Answers.com:

congenital

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adj

Definition: inborn
Antonyms: contracted

(kuhn-jen-i-tl)

A descriptive term for a disease or condition that is present at birth. A congenital disease can be either hereditary or acquired.

Word Tutor:

congenital

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Present from birth.

pronunciation Jarrod's heart problem was congenital.

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describing a character or trait (phenotype) that exists at or dates from birth. It neither includes all inherited conditions nor excludes characters resulting from environmental causes.

Previous:congenic, congener, conformon
Next:congenital adrenal hyperplasia, congenital lipid adrenal hyperplasia, conglutination

Present at and existing from the time of birth.

  • c. articular rigidity — see arthrogryposis.
  • c. defects — abnormalities of structure or function which are present at birth. They may or may not be inherited. There are a number of diseases, for example the lysosomal storage diseases, which may be inherited or environmental in causation, in which the insult is supplied while the fetus is in utero, but the defect does not become apparent until some time after birth. By definition these are not congenital defects although the animal is born with the metabolic lesion in place. See also individual defects listed by organ or system.
  • c. erythropoietic porphyria — see porphyria.
  • infectious c. tremor — see congenital tremor syndrome of piglets.
  • c. loco — a congenital, inherited disease of domestic chickens characterized by opisthotonos, orthotonos, inability to stand, violent somersaulting. Affected birds die of starvation and dehydration.

adj

Present at birth and usually developed in utero.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'congenital'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to congenital, see:

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Translations:

Congenital

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - født, medfødt

Nederlands (Dutch)
aangeboren, onverbeterlijk

Français (French)
adj. - (Méd) congénital, (fig) invétéré

Deutsch (German)
adj. - angeboren

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - συγγενής, εγγενής, εκ γενετής (κν. από γεννησιμιού)

Italiano (Italian)
innato, congenito, connaturato

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - congênito

Русский (Russian)
врожденный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - congénito, innato

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - medfödd

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
天生的, 先天的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 天生的, 先天的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 같은 성질의 , 기분 좋은, 붙임성 있는

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 先天性の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) بالولادة, خلقي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קיים מלידה‬


 
 
Related topics:
ablepharia
abrachia
acephalobrachia

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