Standard Lemma guide

pathology

noun · 6 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.

  • /pəˈθɒləd͡ʒi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒlədʒi
  • CMU ARPABET: P AH0 TH AA1 L AH0 JH IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences; now usually and especially in the clinical and academic medicine subsenses defined below.

The clinical biomedical specialty that provides microscopy and other laboratory services to clinicians (e.g., cytology, histology, cytopathology, histopathology, cytometry).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Qualifier: clinical medicine

Examples

  • The surgeon sent a specimen of the cyst to the hospital's pathology department for staining and analysis to determine its histologic subtype.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences; now usually and especially in the clinical and academic medicine subsenses defined below.

The academic biomedical specialty that advances the aspects of the biomedical sciences that allow for those clinical applications and their advancements over time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literary, uncountable, usually

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • Those three pioneering pathologists went on to become leaders in building the pathology departments at several universities.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences; now usually and especially in the clinical and academic medicine subsenses defined below.

Any of several interrelated scientific disciplines that advance the aspects of the life sciences that allow for such technological applications and their advancements over time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Qualifier: life sciences

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

Examples

  • the plant pathology and vertebrate pathology programs of the university's biology department

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Pathosis: any deviation from a healthy or normal structure or function; abnormality; illness or malformation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Some sort of renal pathology was suspected, but imaging and even biopsy found no discernible pathology, glomerular or otherwise.
  • Some sort of mental and social pathology seemed to sweep over the discourse later that autumn.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abnormality, disease, illness, pathosis

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: medical science

Narrower terms: paleopathology, palaeopathology

6

noun

Meaning 6

any deviation from a healthy or normal condition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ill health, unhealthiness, health problem

Narrower terms: acidosis, alkalosis, ankylosis, anchylosis, arteriectasis, arteriectasia, arthropathy, asynergy, asynergia, asystole, cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary arrest, diverticulosis, flux, fluorosis, gammopathy, glossolalia, angiopathy, aphagia, stenosis, stricture, atherogenesis, ascites, azymia, bacteremia, bacteriemia, bacteriaemia, sclerosis, induration, lipomatosis, lithiasis, cartilaginification, cyst, endometriosis, adenomyosis, adhesion, hemochromatosis, iron-storage disease, iron overload, bronzed diabetes, infarct, infarction, macrocytosis, fibrosis, malacia, mastopathy, mazopathy, neuropathy, myopathy, osteoporosis, priapism, demineralization, demineralisation, pyorrhea, pyorrhoea, uremia, uraemia, azotemia, azotaemia, azoturia, lesion, lymphadenopathy, gangrene, sphacelus, slough, hyperbilirubinemia, palilalia, reflux, otorrhea, rhinopathy, hydronephrosis, atelectasis, anoxemia, coprolalia, autoimmunity, dysfunction, disfunction, sarcoidosis, carotenemia, xanthemia, stasis, uropathy, varicosis, viremia, viraemia, volvulus

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πάσχω (páskhō)der. Ancient Greek πᾰ́θος (pắthos) Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. Latin -logialbor. French -logie French pathologiebor. English pathology From French pathologie, from Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “disease”) and -λογία (-logía, “study of”). By surface analysis, path- + -ology or patho- + -logy.

Across languages

Translations

86 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: عِلْمُ الأَمْرَاض (ʕilmu l-ʔamrāḍ) — branch of medicine
  • Armenian: ախտաբանություն (axtabanutʻyun) — branch of medicine
  • Belarusian: патало́гія (patalóhija) — branch of medicine
  • Bulgarian: патология (patologija) — branch of medicine
  • Burmese: ရောဂါဗေဒ (rau:gabeda.) — branch of medicine
  • Catalan: patologia — branch of medicine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 病理學 /病理学 (bìnglǐxué) — branch of medicine
  • Czech: patologie — branch of medicine
  • Czech: chorobověda — branch of medicine
  • Danish: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Dutch: pathologie — branch of medicine
  • Esperanto: patologio — branch of medicine
  • Finnish: patologia — branch of medicine
  • Finnish: tautioppi — branch of medicine
  • French: pathologie — branch of medicine
  • Galician: patoloxía — branch of medicine
  • German: Pathologie — branch of medicine
  • Greek: παθολογία (pathología) — branch of medicine
  • Hebrew: פתולוגיה — branch of medicine
  • Hindi: विकृतिविज्ञान (vikŕtivijñān) — branch of medicine
  • Hungarian: kórtan — branch of medicine
  • Hungarian: patológia — branch of medicine
  • Icelandic: meinafræði — branch of medicine
  • Icelandic: sjúkdómafræði — branch of medicine
  • Ido: patologio — branch of medicine
  • Indonesian: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Irish: paiteolaíocht — branch of medicine
  • Italian: patologia — branch of medicine
  • Japanese: 病理学 (byōrigaku) — branch of medicine
  • Korean: 병리학 (byeongnihak) — branch of medicine
  • Latvian: patoloģija — branch of medicine
  • Macedonian: патоло́гија (patológija) — branch of medicine
  • Malay: kaji penyakit — branch of medicine
  • Malay: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Norwegian Bokmål: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Persian: پاتولوژی (pâtoloži) — branch of medicine
  • Persian: آسیبشناسی (âsib-šenâsi) — branch of medicine
  • Polish: patologia — branch of medicine
  • Portuguese: patologia — branch of medicine
  • Romanian: patologie — branch of medicine
  • Russian: патоло́гия (patológija) — branch of medicine
  • Serbo-Croatian: patològija — branch of medicine
  • Spanish: patología — branch of medicine
  • Swedish: patologi — branch of medicine
  • Tagalog: palasakitan — branch of medicine
  • Tamil: நோயியல் (nōyiyal) — branch of medicine
  • Turkish: patoloji — branch of medicine
  • Ukrainian: патоло́гія (patolóhija) — branch of medicine
  • Vietnamese: bịnh lý học — branch of medicine
  • Vietnamese: bệnh học — branch of medicine
  • Bulgarian: патология (patologija) — medical specialty
  • Chinese Mandarin: 病理學 /病理学 (bìnglǐxué) — medical specialty
  • Finnish: patologia — medical specialty
  • Greek: παθολογική ανατομία (pathologikí anatomía) — medical specialty
  • Hindi: विकृतिविज्ञान (vikŕtivijñān) — medical specialty
  • Indonesian: patologi — medical specialty
  • Macedonian: патоло́гија (patológija) — medical specialty
  • Polish: patologia — medical specialty
  • Tamil: நோயியல் (nōyiyal) — medical specialty
  • Bulgarian: патология (patologija) — abnormality
  • Chinese Mandarin: 病理 (bìnglǐ) — abnormality
  • Dutch: pathologie — abnormality
  • Finnish: poikkeama — abnormality
  • French: pathologie — abnormality
  • Galician: patoloxía — abnormality
  • German: Pathologie — abnormality
  • Greek: παθολογία (pathología) — abnormality
  • Hebrew: פתולוגיה — abnormality
  • Icelandic: sjúklegt ástand — abnormality
  • Italian: patologia — abnormality
  • Japanese: 病理 (byōri) — abnormality
  • Korean: 병리 (byeongni) — abnormality
  • Macedonian: нено́рмалност (nenórmalnost) — abnormality
  • Macedonian: изро́деност f патоло́гија (izródenost) — abnormality
  • Polish: patologia — abnormality
  • Portuguese: patologia — abnormality
  • Romanian: patologie — abnormality
  • Russian: патоло́гия (patológija) — abnormality
  • Serbo-Croatian: patològija — abnormality
  • Spanish: patología — abnormality
  • Turkish: patoloji — abnormality
  • Ukrainian: патоло́гія (patolóhija) — abnormality
  • Vietnamese: bệnh — abnormality
  • Vietnamese: bệnh tật — abnormality
  • Vietnamese: bệnh lý — abnormality
Real reading context

pathology in complete knowledge articles

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