polymasticadj.n.
/ˌpɒlɪˈmastɪk/, U.S. /ˌpɑliˈmæstɪk/ Chiefly Medicine and Cultural Anthropology.
A. adj.
Having supernumerary breasts. Also of an animal: having more than two teats as a normal state.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [adjective] > of breasts
tetramasthous1860
polymastoid1879
polymastic1891
1891 Jrnl. Anat. & Physiol. 25 228 The additional mammary structures do not develop just anywhere; but they appear only in certain definite positions, which almost invariably correspond with those occupied normally by the glands of polymastic animals.
1934 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 66 93 The best known examples of the first form are the paleolithic figures at Laussel and the polymastic Diana of the Ephesians.
1997 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 23 Feb. 4/1 The fantasy of the multibreasted woman..found expression in the West, particularly in the famous ‘polymastic’ statues of Artemis of Ephesus.
B. n.
A polymastic person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [noun] > of breasts > person
polymastic1918
1918 J. B. Deaver & J. McFarland Breast iii. 54 Robert..points out that the mother of his famous case of supernumerary mammae on the outer side of the thigh, was a polymastic.
1942 Q. Rev. Biol. 17 62/1 Marie..reported six pairs of twins in two generations of polymastics.
1943 C. F. Geschickter Dis. Breast i. 12 Most authors have found the majority of the accessory mammae below the normally situated pair... Iwai, however, in 511 Japanese polymastics, found 88 per cent of the supernumerary breasts above the normal ones.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1891