pathogen
Americannoun
noun
-
An agent that causes infection or disease, especially a microorganism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, or a virus.
-
See Note at germ
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pathogen
Explanation
A pathogen is a tiny living organism, such as a bacterium or virus, that makes people sick. Washing your hands frequently helps you avoid the pathogens that can make you sick. Pathos is the Greek word for disease and -genes means "born of." So, a pathogen is something that causes disease, like a virus like the rhinovirus, which causes the common cold. At summer picnics, people are cautious about keeping certain foods like potato salad in coolers with ice — the eggs in such dishes spoil quickly out in the heat, introducing pathogens that can make people sick.
Vocabulary lists containing pathogen
Common Senses: Path ("Feeling")
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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.
See Examples For:
Chipotle in 2020 agreed to pay a $25 million fine in connection to the string of illnesses, which included outbreaks of norovirus, a pathogen that can be transmitted by food workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Health officials have advised the public to thoroughly wash produce, avoid certain fruits like raspberries, and cook vegetables to kill off the pathogen - but they still have not identified its sources.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"A future in which pathogen samples and information move quickly, without needless delay; and in which the benefits that come from them reach the people who need them most, fairly and in time."
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
She knew the risks of forgoing pasteurization, but the site eased her concerns: It said the farm tested its milk and had never found a single pathogen.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Most human groups are a scattershot mix of HLA profiles, which means that almost always some people in the group will not get sick when exposed to a particular pathogen.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
“Cyclospora is one of the most notoriously difficult pathogens to detect in agricultural matrices.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
The system is designed to reduce contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
FoodNet used to monitor and track Cyclospora and other pathogens, like Listeria.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
FoodNet scaled back monitoring for all but two pathogens last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
In contrast to chemicals, insect pathogens are harmless to all but their intended targets.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
