Amblyopia

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /æmblɪˈəʊpɪə/

Definitions

1. A condition in which the eyesight in one eye is less effective than the other due to issues in visual processing during early life
2. It refers to an eye disorder where poor vision in one eye results from the brain's preference for the other eye's signals
3. A visual impairment in one eye caused by improper development of vision during childhood

Etymology: Amblyopia is built from two Greek elements. "Amblys" meant "dull" or "blunt," and "ōps" (the root of "-ope") meant "eye," so the literal sense is "dull-eyed." The Greek word "amblyōpia" was used for dimness of sight, and modern medicine adopted it in New Latin as a technical term for the condition now known as "lazy eye." The word's surface structure, with its "ambly-" and "-ope" pieces, is easy to read, but the Greek and Latin parts were assembled into a single term for a clinical diagnosis rather than handed down from ancient medicine. Its use in English is therefore a deliberate scientific borrowing, and the meaning stays close to its roots: an eye that has not developed its full sharpness.