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Glite Dictionary
microphthalmia

microphthalmia

9.9
A condition in which one or both eyes are born much smaller than normal
  • noun
  • /ˌmaɪkroʊˈθælmiə/
  • Specialized
: microftalmía
  • Children with microphthalmia may face challenges with vision due to their small eye size.

Examples

  • She was born with microphthalmia, which means a smaller eye accompanied by possible blindness.

    Blog text (28)

  • Sad to hear of your daughter's microphthalmia.

    Blog text (28)

  • The doctor diagnosed him with microphthalmia after noticing the irregular size of his eyes.

  • Her microphthalmia was identified during a routine check-up when the pediatrician examined her eyes.

Synonyms

microphthalmos
vsmicrophthalmia
  • Specialized
9.9

One or both eyes are much smaller than normal from birth

is the same meaning but spelled differently
nanophthalmos
vsmicrophthalmia
  • Specialized
9.9

Both eyes are much smaller than usual but otherwise normal

allows one or both eyes and does not require normal structure

Surface Forms

microphthalmia singular
microphthalmias plural

Morphology

microphthalmia = ophthalmia (opaque) = micro + ophthalm + ia

The word is built from a medical combining form plus the prefix micro-, but the specialized meaning 'abnormally small eye(s)' is not directly predictable for most learners.

Etymology

The word microphthalmia comes from Greek parts micro- meaning 'small' and ophthalm- meaning 'eye', and the same ophthalm- appears in ophthalmology, the study of eyes. So, microphthalmia means 'small eye' and is used for the condition when one or both eyes are unusually small.