Hypertext Webster Gateway: "deformity"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Deformity \De*form"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Deformities}. [L. deformitas,
fr. deformis: cf. OF. deformet['e], deformit['e], F.
difformit['e]. See {Deform}, v. & a., and cf. {Disformity}.]
1. The state of being deformed; want of proper form or
symmetry; any unnatural form or shape; distortion;
irregularity of shape or features; ugliness.
To make an envious mountain on my back, Where sits
deformity to mock my body. --Shak.
2. Anything that destroys beauty, grace, or propriety;
irregularity; absurdity; gross deviation from order or the
established laws of propriety; as, deformity in an
edifice; deformity of character.
Confounded, that her Maker's eyes Should look so
near upon her foul deformities. --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
deformity
n 1: an affliction in which some part of the body is misshapen or
malformed [syn: {malformation}, {misshapenness}]
2: an appearance that has been spoiled or is misshapen; "there
were distinguishing disfigurements on the suspect's back";
"suffering from facial disfiguration" [syn: {disfigurement},
{disfiguration}]
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