Etymology

phocomelia

P3H4O1C3O1M3E1L1I1A1

Today it means: A congenital disorder of the limbs, the affected person being born with abnormally short or missing bones and flipper-like hands or feet. Full definition →

Ancient Greek φώκη
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromφώκη“seal (marine animal)”
  2. English todayphocomelia

From Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē, “seal (marine animal)”) + μέλος (mélos, “limb”) + -ia.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekφώκη all →

phocaphocine

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.