Standard Lemma guide

carcinogen

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kɑɹˈsɪnəd͡ʒən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA0 R S IH1 N AH0 JH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A substance or agent that can cause cancer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any substance that produces cancer

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: substance

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English carcino- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh1- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh1os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs)lbor. French -gènebor. English -gen English carcinogen From carcino- + -gen.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: քաղցկեղածին (kʻaġcʻkeġacin) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Catalan: carcinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Catalan: cancerigen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Chinese Cantonese: 致癌物質 /致癌物质 (zi3 ngaam4 mat6 zat1) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 致癌物質 /致癌物质 (zhì'ái wùzhì) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Czech: karcinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Danish: carcinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Dutch: carcinogeen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Dutch: kankerverwekkende stof — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Estonian: kantserogeen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Estonian: kartsinogeen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Finnish: karsinogeeni — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Finnish: syöpää aiheuttava aine — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • French: cancérogène — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • French: carcinogène — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • German: Karzinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Icelandic: krabbameinsvaldur — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Indonesian: karsinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Irish: carcanaigin — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Italian: agente cancerogeno — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Italian: prodotto cancerogeno — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Japanese: 発癌物質 (hatsugan busshitsu) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Korean: 발암물질 (barammuljil) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Malay: karsinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Polish: czynnik rakotwórczy — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Portuguese: carcinógeno — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Russian: канцероге́н (kancerogén) — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Serbo-Croatian: karcinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Serbo-Croatian: карциноген — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Spanish: carcinógeno — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Spanish: cancerígeno — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Spanish: carcinogénico — substance or agent that can cause cancer
  • Welsh: carsinogen — substance or agent that can cause cancer