pathology

American  

[puh-thol-uh-jee] / pəˈθɒl ə dʒi /

noun

• pathologies
  plural

1. the science or the study of the origin, nature, and course of diseases.

2. the conditions and processes of a disease.

3. any deviation from a healthy, normal, or efficient condition.

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pathology British  

/ pəˈθɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of medicine concerned with the cause, origin, and nature of disease, including the changes occurring as a result of disease

2. the manifestations of disease, esp changes occurring in tissues or organs

3. any variant or deviant condition from normal

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pathology Scientific  

/ pə-thŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of disease and its causes, processes, and effects.

2. The physical and mental abnormalities that result from disease or trauma.

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pathology Cultural  

1. A branch of medicine that explores the nature and cause of disease. Pathology also involves the study of bodily changes that occur as the result of disease.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pathologist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pathologies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pathology

First recorded in 1590–1600; earlier pathologia, from Latin, from Greek pathología; see patho- ( def. ), -logy ( def. )

Explanation

Pathology is the medical term for the way a disease works. A tumor is removed by a doctor trained in surgery, but you need a doctor trained in pathology to tell you if the tumor is cancer. Pathology derives from the Greek pathos "suffering" and ology "study of"––to give us "the study of disease," but often pathology means the disease's behavior––the cancer pathology is to take over healthy cells and grow cancerous tumors. We also use pathology to describe abnormal conditions that aren’t really diseases, like the pathology of Hollywood stars who live their lives in public and become obsessed with fitness.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pathology pathologies

The test works by sending small tissue samples taken from the tumour to the pathology lab.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

In a post on X, Wiles said that after a medical appointment this week "my pathology results came back clear. I am cancer free."

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

It provides positive, intermediate and negative result categories to support doctors assessing the likelihood of amyloid pathology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

"We usually think of the brain as a closed system," said Julia Belk, a postdoctoral scholar in pathology at Stanford Medicine and first author on the new study.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

“I specialize in the pathology and therapeutics of the blood,” he said.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

Marshall in 2024, catalogued the system’s due process pathologies and all but invited a broader challenge.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

“Scholars on both the left and right make comfortable livings detailing the pathologies of the poor without ever talking with a single poor person,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

Mice brains are often used in scientific research into human brain pathologies including dementia because of key similarities between the two.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025

This means, inevitably, moving away from lenses that depict neurodivergent conditions as pathologies.

From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025

I was elaborating upon my “legend” consistently and Luzan accepted my pathologies.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee