neuron-deficient
|neu-ron-def-i-cient|
🇺🇸
/ˈnʊrɑn dɪˈfɪʃənt/
🇬🇧
/ˈnjʊərɒn dɪˈfɪʃənt/
lacking neurons; lacking mental capacity
Etymology
'neuron-deficient' originates from Modern English, specifically a compound of 'neuron' and 'deficient', where 'neuron' comes from Greek 'neûron' meaning 'nerve' and 'deficient' comes from Latin 'deficere' meaning 'to fail' or 'be lacking'.
'neuron' entered scientific English via New Latin from the Greek 'neûron'; 'deficient' comes from Latin 'deficere' through Late Latin 'deficiens' and Middle English/French forms, and the compound 'neuron-deficient' is a modern English coinage combining the two elements.
Initially, 'deficient' meant 'lacking or failing'; combined with 'neuron' it literally denotes 'lacking neurons' in a biological sense, and by extension it has acquired a figurative meaning of 'lacking intelligence'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
noun form: the condition of being neuron-deficient; a deficiency in neuron number or function.
Researchers studied the neuron-deficiency in the animal model to understand developmental disorders.
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Adjective 1
biological: having an abnormally low number of neurons; lacking sufficient neural cells.
Post-mortem analysis showed the patient was neuron-deficient in several regions of the cortex.
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Adjective 2
figurative (colloquial, pejorative): lacking intelligence or mental sharpness; stupid.
Calling that shortcut 'safe' was a neuron-deficient decision that nearly caused an accident.
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Last updated: 2025/10/04 01:31