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# cretin

noun (cretin, cretins)

«cretin» in the English dictionary: everyday and Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (old use) A person born with a serious illness that stops the body and mind growing properly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cretin/#m1)
2. (rude) A foolish or stupid person; now a hurtful insult. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cretin/#m2)

### In the lessons

in old tales, a word for a stupid or pitiful person; today it is offensive, so do not use it

### Examples

- The poor cretin crept away to his bed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cretin/#x1)
- Don't call people cretins; it is cruel. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cretin/#x2)

### Note

nothing for maths

## Early Modern English

### Meaning

A person born with a serious illness that stops the body and mind growing properly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cretin/#m1)

### Then and now

Today this word is an insult, and doctors use other words. In these sentences it is the old medical term for a person with that illness.

### Examples

- The poor cretin crept away to his bed, and nothing was seen of him during the whole of the following day. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cretin/#x1)
- Valais was then, as he expressed it, only a closed-up bag, quite full of sick people, miserable cretins; but the French soldiers came, and they were capital doctors, they soon killed the disease and the sick people, too. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cretin/#x2)

### Note

Today: person with a disability.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «cretin» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cretin/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«cretin» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/cretin.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «cretin» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cretin/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«cretin» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/cretin.html) on Mova free.