a. rare. [f. Gr. τέρας, τερατ- (see TERATA) + -IC + -AL.] Relating to marvels or prodigies. So Teratism (a) love of the marvelous or prodigious; (b) ‘monstrosity’ (Cent. Dict., Supp.).
1722. Wollaston, Relig. Nat., iii. § 16 (1738), 56. Herodotus, possibly delighting in teratical stories.
1891. trans. Ribot’s Diseases of Personality, Introd. 2. It will be necessary, even at the risk of increasing the already extant confusion, to investigate what teratical, morbid, or simply rare, cases can teach us concerning the formation and disorganization of personality, yet without assuming to treat the subject in its totality.
1901. Folk-Lore, March, 20. That attitude of mind for which Mr. Marett has invented the term Teratism.
