present at birth but not necessarily hereditary; acquired during fetal development

Existing at, or dating from, birth; pertaining to one from birth; born with one; connate; constitutional; natural; as, a congenital deformity. See Connate.

Existing, or produced, at birth.

Existing at birth, referring to certain mental or physical traits or peculiarities, diseases, etc. Congenital is distinguished from inborn in that it is inclusive for that which is congenital may be something existing from the ovum or acquired at the moment of birth; that which is inborn, on the other hand, is something engrafted upon the mind or body during the process of development. An infective disease may be congenital, but not inborn; a vice of metabolism is inborn, being a true developmental error, something acquired during the process of development, and not originating in intrauterine disease or injury.

Term applied to malformations or peculiarities which are present at birth.

Begotten or born with, said of diseases or deformities dating from birth.

Of the same birth; existing at birth.

Born with one; existing from birth.

Congenitally.

Existing from birth.

Of the same birth; born with another; existing from birth, as a disease or some deformity.

Present at birth.

The fault is congenital I'm sure. – The Henchman by Mark Lee Luther

That defect of vision, whether congenital or induced by the confinements of early training, persists and increases throughout life, like other forms of myopia. – H. G. Wells by J. D. Beresford

Congenital cases are, of course, quite hopeless in that respect. – The Crime Doctor by Ernest William Hornung

As congenital amateurs our quest for truth consists in stirring up the experts, and forcing them to answer any heresy that has the accent of conviction. – Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann

In the congenital form the deformity is frequently bilateral. – Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles Alexis Thomson

It is in this way: side- bones occur only at a certain, usually well- defined, time after birth, and we might say are never congenital – Diseases of the Horse's Foot by Harry Caulton Reeks

Beg pardon, madam, but would you be so good as to tell me whether this freak of nature was congenital or the result of some frightful accident?" – At the Mercy of Tiberius by August Evans Wilson

In a few instances this has been seen as a congenital growth. – Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by U.S. Department of Agriculture J.R. Mohler

There was perhaps the slightest possible shrinking in Harcourt's eyelids- the one congenital likeness to his discarded son- but his otherwise calm demeanor did not change. – A First Family of Tasajara by Bret Harte

The exceptions, the congenital cowards, slink out of war on any pretext, but if drafted are likely to acquit themselves decently unless neurotic. – The Sisters-In-Law by Gertrude Atherton

The response of the ductless glands to situations varies with their congenital capacity, and acquired susceptibility. – The Glands Regulating Personality by Louis Berman, M.D.

It is almost as though a man should discover that blindness in a certain case was due to a congenital i. – Hormones and Heredity by J. T. Cunningham

These constitutions thus may be either congenital or acquired. – The Glands Regulating Personality by Louis Berman, M.D.

Only as any congenital disease may be called ours. – Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors by James Freeman Clarke

I should rather doubt this, as I have been told that congenital cataract can be removed if the operation takes place early enough, viz. – Elizabeth Gilbert and Her Work for the Blind by Frances Martin

The account, though a sort of literary congenital cripple, has still a prescriptive right to live. – Above the Snow Line by Clinton Thomas Dent

It was also certain that if that master happened to be a German, he should take delight in describing his hero as the Freewiller of Necessity, thereby beyond measure exasperating Englishmen with a congenital incapacity for metaphysics. – The Perfect Wagnerite A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw

Yet there are ways of curing even what I regard as the very worst type of congenital criminal at the present day. – The Crime Doctor by Ernest William Hornung

The leopard cannot change his spots, and the human being cannot wholly rid himself of his congenital qualities. – Platform Monologues by T. G. Tucker

It is yellow in jaundice, and is bluish, especially over the face, in congenital heart disease. – The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler Lena K. Sadler