polymastia
noun/pɒlɪˈmæstɪə/
Etymology From poly- + -mastia (corresponding to Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós, “breast”)).
1
The fact or condition of having more than two mammae or nipples.
- Viewed in the light of comparative anatomy, polymastia is interesting, as showing a tendency to re-establish the series of mammae seen in other mammalia; but Darwin has lately repudiated atavism as a cause of this malformation1878 April 6, “Reviews and notices of books: On Numerical Anomalies of the Breast”, in The Lancet, volume 114, page 500:
- The warts on its skin, you see, remind one of the extra nipples which every she-witch was supposed to have and that goes back (am I boring you, dear boy? How is your glass?) that goes back to the polymastia or superfluity of breasts of the ancients.1976, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Something Nasty in the Woodshed, Penguin, published 2001, page 420:
- Derived terms
- polymastic