pathogen

path·o·gen
P3A1T1H4O1G2E1N1
/ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/

noun

An agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.

Similar
infectious agent
OriginProto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ← Ancient Greek γένος →
Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

nounpathogen (plural pathogens)

plural pathogens

  1. immunologyAn agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.
    1 more example

    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 28, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64

    Synonyms: infectious agent

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.

Similar
infectious agent
Also see
infectious agent

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekγένος“birth”
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-“lineage”
  3. Englishpathogen

From patho- + -gen. Second element ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“lineage”) through Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “birth”)

More words from Proto-Indo-European, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مسببات الأمراض
  • مسببات الأمراضany organism or substance that causes disease
Bulgarian болестотворен организъм
  • болестотворен организъм (bolestotvoren organizăm)any organism or substance that causes disease
Catalan patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Chinese Mandarin 病原體 /病原体
  • 病原體 /病原体 (bìngyuántǐ)any organism or substance that causes disease
Czech patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Dutch pathogeen, ziektekiem
  • pathogeenany organism or substance that causes disease
  • ziektekiemany organism or substance that causes disease
Finnish patogeeni, taudinaiheuttaja
  • patogeeniany organism or substance that causes disease
  • taudinaiheuttajaany organism or substance that causes disease
French pathogène
  • pathogèneany organism or substance that causes disease
German Krankheitserreger
  • Krankheitserregerany organism or substance that causes disease
Greek παθογόνος
  • παθογόνος (pathogónos)any organism or substance that causes disease
Hebrew פתוגן
  • פתוגן (patogen)any organism or substance that causes disease
Hindi रोगाणु, रोगजनक
  • रोगाणु (rogāṇu)any organism or substance that causes disease
  • रोगजनक (rogajnak)any organism or substance that causes disease
Hungarian kórokozó, patogén
  • kórokozóany organism or substance that causes disease
  • patogénany organism or substance that causes disease
Indonesian patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Irish pataigin
  • pataiginany organism or substance that causes disease
Italian patogeno, agente patogeno
  • patogenoany organism or substance that causes disease
  • agente patogenoany organism or substance that causes disease
Japanese 病原体, 病原菌
  • 病原体 (byōgentai)any organism or substance that causes disease
  • 病原菌 (byōgenkin)any organism or substance that causes disease
Latin pathogenum
  • pathogenumany organism or substance that causes disease
Latvian patogēns
  • patogēnsany organism or substance that causes disease
Lithuanian patogenas, ligos sukėlėjas
  • patogenasany organism or substance that causes disease
  • ligos sukėlėjasany organism or substance that causes disease
Malay patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Māori tukumate, moroiti tahumaero
  • tukumateany organism or substance that causes disease
  • moroiti tahumaeroany organism or substance that causes disease
Norwegian Bokmål patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Persian بیماریزا
  • بیماریزا (bimâri-zâ)any organism or substance that causes disease
Polish patogen
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Portuguese patógeno
  • patógenoany organism or substance that causes disease
Romanian agent patogen
  • agent patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Russian патоге́н
  • патоге́н (patogén)any organism or substance that causes disease
Slovak patogén
  • patogénany organism or substance that causes disease
Spanish patógeno
  • patógenoany organism or substance that causes disease
Swedish smittämne, patogen
  • smittämneany organism or substance that causes disease
  • patogenany organism or substance that causes disease
Tagalog mulsakit
  • mulsakitany organism or substance that causes disease
Tamil நோய்க்காரணி
  • நோய்க்காரணி (nōykkāraṇi)any organism or substance that causes disease
Thai จุลชีพก่อโรค
  • จุลชีพก่อโรคany organism or substance that causes disease
Turkish patojen
  • patojenany organism or substance that causes disease
Ukrainian патоген
  • патоген (patohen)any organism or substance that causes disease
Vietnamese mầm bệnh
  • mầm bệnhany organism or substance that causes disease

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

heptagon
Cite this entry
APA

pathogen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathogen

MLA

“pathogen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathogen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pathogen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathogen.

Source: pathogen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.