Etymology

pathology

P3A1T1H4O1L1O1G2Y4

Today it means: The clinical biomedical specialty that provides microscopy and other laboratory services to clinicians (e.g., cytology, histology, cytopathology, histopathology, cytometry). Full definition →

French pathologie ← Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) ← Proto-Hellenic *lógos
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekπάσχω (páskhō)
  2. Ancient Greekπᾰ́θος (pắthos)
  3. Proto-Indo-European*leǵ-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*lóǵos
  5. Proto-Hellenic*lógos
  6. Ancient Greekλόγος (lógos)
  7. Frenchpathologie
  8. English todaypathology

From French pathologie, from Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “disease”) and -λογία (-logía, “study of”). By surface analysis, path- + -ology or patho- + -logy.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekπάθος all →

pathos-pathpatho-pathognomypedopathy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.