Down syndrome

• Down’s syndrome

Named after John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), an English physician who first described the condition as a distinct form of mental disability in the 1860s.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /daʊn ˈsɪndɹəʊm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /daʊn ˈsɪndɹoʊm/, /-dɹəm/

• Audio (AU)

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• Hyphenation: Down syn‧drome

Down syndrome

1. (neurology, chiefly US) A genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21 (a chromosomal excess), whereby the patients bear a certain resemblance to the Mongoloid race, such as a small head and tilted eyelids, and typically have a delay in cognitive ability and physical growth. [from 1961.]

The condition is known only as Down's syndrome in the UK and Canada.

• mongolism, Mongolian idiocy (now offensive)
• trisomy 21

• Down syndrome on Wikipedia.Wikipedia