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

“While pathology is underway to better understand her illness, veterinary teams do not believe her condition was connected to that earlier loss.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Research from 2024 examined how effective AI chatbots were at simplifying pathology reports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

He said the investigations, which included reviews into the pathology, maternity and ophthalmology departments, had cost £187,479 in total.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Treatments could be most effective before the brain reaches the point where inflammatory activity becomes connected to tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 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

Ordinary struggles are reframed as pathologies, and accommodation becomes the default managerial response.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 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

"HGF has numerous important functions in a variety of tissues and organs throughout the body. With further researcher we may be able to find other therapeutic applications of HGF in other pathologies."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024

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

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee