congenital is the particularity of something that has been present since birth.
In humans, for example, a congenital characteristic is one that accompanies the individual throughout all your life, arising at your birth or even before, during pregnancy in your mother's womb.
Usually, these characteristics are manifested as diseases or congenital defects, whether in the physical (malformation of the baby's body) or mental scope.
At congenital diseases are not synonymous with genetic or hereditary diseases.
Diseases that develop after birth are called “acquired”.
Synonyms for congenital
- Innate
- Natural
- Native
- Connatural
- Born
- urge
- contact
- Inherent
- Unborn
Congenital and hereditary
At hereditary diseases are acquired during the gestation process of the living being, in the maternal uterus.
When these diseases have hereditary characteristics, it means that they were transmitted to the baby through the genes of the father or mother.
Heredity is precisely the transmission of genetic information to offspring.
The congenital character, in turn, only means that a certain characteristic is present since birth in that individual.
That is, a disease that is diagnosed before or at the child's birth is considered congenital, being hereditary or not.
See also the meaning of Born and Innate.