Etymology

cri du chat syndrome

Today it means: A rare genetic disorder identified by the catlike cry of the infant, caused by an absence of some genetic material on the fifth chromosome. Full definition →

French cri du chat
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The story

  1. French · derived fromcri du chat“cry of the cat; cat's cry”
  2. English todaycri du chat syndrome

From French cri du chat (“cry of the cat; cat's cry”). First described and coined by French pediatrician and geneticist Jérôme Lejeune in 1963.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.