A deformity or abnormal development of limbs, particularly a congenital condition where limbs are malformed or underdeveloped.
From Greek 'kakos' (bad) + 'melos' (limb), formalized in medical terminology in the 1800s. The term was used in anatomical and obstetrical contexts to describe birth defects.
Cacomelia appears in old medical textbooks describing thalidomide victims in the 1960s, though doctors struggled to find precise language for such devastating birth defects—modern medicine would use more specific diagnostic terms.
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