Tay-Sachs disease Hear it!

Tay-Sachs disease definition

☆ Tay·-Sachs· disease (tā′saks′)

a hereditary condition, found chiefly among descendants of some Eastern European Jews, caused by an enzyme deficiency and characterized by mental retardation, paralysis, and death in early childhood

Etymology: after W. Tay (1843-1927), Eng physician, & B. Sachs (1858-1944), U.S. neurologist, who described it

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.