pathogenesis
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pathogenesis
From New Latin, dating back to 1875–80; see origin at patho-, -genesis
Explanation
The medical term pathogenesis means the source of a disease. Your doctor might guess that the pathogenesis of your ear infection was a bad cold that caused congestion and swelling. If you ask your doctor, "How did I get chickenpox?" you're asking about the pathogenesis of an illness that gave you an itchy rash and a high fever. The word stems from the Greek pathos, "suffering or disease," and genesis, "origin." In medical terms, pathogenesis lays out the biological progression of a disease from its origin to the symptoms it caused that sent you to your doctor's office.
Vocabulary lists containing pathogenesis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pi, a former postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt, is now an assistant professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale School of Medicine.
From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2023
“We now have dengue in southern parts of Texas,” George C. Stewart, McKee Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and chair of the department of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Missouri, told Scientific American.
From Salon • Jan. 4, 2019
Add. ti: The Pathogenesis and pathology of viral infections. © 17Jul50; A45750.
From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1977 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.