subnormalityn.
/ˌsʌbnɔːˈmalᵻti/, U.S. /ˌsəbˌnɔrˈmælədi/ The quality, state, or condition of being subnormal (esp. in sense 2); an instance of this. severe subnormality n. Law (now disused) a state of mental disability classified by the Mental Health Act of 1959 as grounds for detention (see quot. 1959) (the term was replaced by severe mental impairment in 1983, and removed from the Act in 2007).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [noun] > being above or below what is normal
supernormality1886
subnormality1889
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > learning impairment > [noun]
retardation1907
moronism1913
learning disability1920
subnormality1935
1889 Satellite May 244 Cases showing positive subnormality of visual acuteness for distance.
1890 Lancet 11 Jan. 105/1 Muscle soreness, and subnormality of temperature on the fourth day.
1913 G. B. Mangold Child Probl. ii. iii. 119 Defects of the teeth are more common than any other physical subnormalities of the child.
1935 C. L. Burt Subnormal Mind i. 8 I shall restrict myself to those forms of subnormality which seem to be chiefly mental in their origin.
1959 Mental Health Act 7 & 8 Eliz. II lxxii §4 (2) In this Act ‘severe subnormality’ means a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes subnormality of intelligence and is of such a nature or degree that the patient is incapable of living an independent life.
1978 W. A. Heaton-Ward Left Behind i. 3 It will be seen that the criterion of severe subnormality is primarily one of social incapacity, whereas that of subnormality is primarily one of therapeutic need.
2001 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 5 Oct. (Internat. section) 14 Many Roma children are sent to special schools when there is no actual evidence of educational subnormality.
Compounds
subnormality hospital n. now disused a hospital for patients classified as suffering from severe mental disability (cf. severe subnormality n. at main sense).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the subnormal
subnormality hospital1963
1960 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 25/3 (advt.) Applications invited for..Oulton Hall Hospital..and affiliated mental sub-normality hospitals.]
1963 M. Craft in H. L. Freeman & W. A. J. Farndale Trends in Mental Health Services xvi. 172 Most of the subnormal..patients can be discharged from subnormality hospitals.
1995 Independent 3 Apr. 16/6 Our son is 25 and has severe learning disabilities, epilepsy and sometimes challenging behaviour. When he was born, the only service available was residential care in the local subnormality hospital.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1889