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cyclopia

cyclopia

9.9
A rare birth condition in which a baby has one eye in the middle of the face
  • noun
  • /saɪˈkloʊpiə/
  • Specialized
: ciclopia
  • Cyclopia is a congenital disorder where an infant is born with only one eye located in the center of the face.

Examples

  • Cyclopia is extremely rare and usually results in death shortly after birth.

  • The condition known as cyclopia is named after the mythical Cyclops.

  • The medical team studied a case of cyclopia in a newborn lamb.

  • The baby was born with cyclopia.

  • Doctors diagnosed her condition as cyclopia.

  • In rare cases, cyclopia can occur in animals, leading to unique developmental challenges.

  • The rare defect cyclopia can severely impact a newborn's chances of survival.

How Fused

cyclopia
  • Specialized
9.9
synophthalmia
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Surface Forms

cyclopia singular
cyclopias plural

Morphology

cyclopia = cyclops (semi-transparent) = cyclop + ia

Formed from 'cyclops' (one‑eyed) with the medical/state suffix '-ia'; identifiable if the learner knows the mythological term and the Greek-derived suffix.

Etymology

Cyclopia comes from the one-eyed giant Cyclops and from the Greek words kyklos ('circle') and ops ('eye'). You can see the same cycl- in cycle, which means 'circle', so cyclopia describes having a single, central eye like a Cyclops.