Tay-Sachs disease

noun

A rare genetic disorder in which harmful quantities of gangliosides accumulate in the brain's nerve cells.

Similar
Tay-SachsSachs diseaseinfantile amaurotic idiocy
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounTay–Sachs disease (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA rare genetic disorder in which harmful quantities of gangliosides accumulate in the brain's nerve cells.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna hereditary disorder of lipid metabolism occurring most frequently in individuals of Jewish descent in eastern Europe; accumulation of lipids in nervous tissue results in death in early childhood

Similar
Tay-SachsSachs diseaseinfantile amaurotic idiocy
Broader
lipidosisautosomal recessive diseaseautosomal recessive defect

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Named after British ophthalmologist Waren Tay and American neurologist Bernard Sachs.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Hungarian Tay–Sachs-betegség
  • Tay–Sachs-betegségrare genetic disorder in which gangliosides accumulate in the brain's nerve cells
Portuguese doença de Tay-Sachs
  • doença de Tay-Sachsrare genetic disorder in which gangliosides accumulate in the brain's nerve cells
Cite this entry
APA

Tay-Sachs disease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tay-Sachs%20disease

MLA

“Tay-Sachs disease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tay-Sachs%20disease. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tay-Sachs disease,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tay-Sachs%20disease.

Source: Tay-Sachs disease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.