deformity

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deformite, also difformite,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French deformité, recorded in French from 1365 as defformeteit and also as defformité and desformité,^[5][6][3] and partly borrowed from Middle French difformité,^[5] the form that survives in French.^[4][7] The French word is from Latin dēfōrmitās (“ugliness, disfigurement, disgrace”),^[5][6][8] from dēfōrmis (“misshapen”),^[5][8][6] from dē- and fōrma (“form, shape”).^[8][4] Compare Italian deformità, recorded before 1306.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An appearance altered for the worse; disfigurement, ugliness: before 1425, in the Dialogue between Reason and Adversity.^[5] Etymonline likewise has the early 15th century, and Merriam-Webster the 15th,^[4][3] but Dictionary.com dates the word to 1350–1400.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word carried both physical and moral meanings from the start: the Middle English Dictionary records bodily defects, ugliness and moral or spiritual ugliness side by side.^[2] The moral sense is recorded from about 1425, in Mandeville's Travels.^[5] The sense that now leads, a departure from the normal shape of the body or one of its parts, is recorded from 1449–50, and of a particular part from 1541.^[5] Ugliness in general has meanwhile become rare, as has the moral sense.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "ugliness; ill-favouredness" first, with Shakespeare's Richard III descanting on mine own deformity, and went on to "ridiculousness", "irregularity" and "dishonour".^[10] In the late 17th century the word was applied to a misshapen person or thing, chiefly as a term of abuse.^[5][6]

Timeline

• before 1425 – disfigurement, ugliness.^[5]
• c. 1425 – a moral flaw.^[5]
• 1447 – a blemish of the skin; an unsightly thing.^[5]
• 1449 – deviation from the normal form of the body.^[5]
• 1541 – a deviation in the structure of a part.^[5]
• 1698 – a misshapen person or thing.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A part of the body that is abnormally shaped, from birth or later; a malformation: a deformity of the left hand.^[11][3][5]
2. The state of being deformed or disfigured.^[11][3][5]
3. A moral defect; depravity; now rare.^[11][3][5]
4. A deformed person or thing, chiefly as a term of abuse.^[11][5][6]

Related words

• deform
• form
• difformity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins