To cause or produce cretinism in; to affect with the condition of cretinism through thyroid hormone deficiency.
From cretin plus the verb-forming suffix -ize, meaning 'to cause to become or affect with.' Medical terminology coinages from 19th-century medicine.
In medical history, cretinize is a dark verb—it describes how iodine deficiency can permanently damage human development—which is why the discovery of iodized salt was such a triumphant public health breakthrough.
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