cretin

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See also: crétin

English

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Etymology

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From French crétin (cretin, idiot), likely 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

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Noun

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This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!
Particularly: “pathology sense”

cretin (plural cretins)

  1. (pathology) A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism. [from 1779]
  2. (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 []

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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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.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French crétin, from Latin Christianus; doublet of the inherited creștin.

Noun

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cretin m (plural cretini)

  1. idiot
    Synonyms: idiot, prost, tâmpit

Declension

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