pathogen
noun/ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/
Etymology From patho- + -gen. Second element ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“lineage”) through Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “birth”)
1
Immunology, Medicine, Pathology, Sciences An agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.
- In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.2013 January 23, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64:
- Derived terms
28 terms
allopathogen, antipathogen, biopathogen, copathogen, endopathogen, enteropathogen, entomopathogen, exopathogen, hemopathogen, immunopathogen, micropathogen, multipathogen, mycopathogen, neuropathogen, nonpathogen, odontopathogen, oncopathogen, otopathogen, pathogenesis, pathogenic, pathogenous, pathogeny, periodontopathogen, periopathogen, phytopathogen, sinopathogen, uropathogen, zoopathogen- Related terms
- pathologically, pathological, pathologic, pathologization, pathology, pathosis