pathogen
Americannoun
noun
-
An agent that causes infection or disease, especially a microorganism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, or a virus.
-
See Note at germ
Other Word Forms
- antipathogen noun
Etymology
Origin of pathogen
Explanation
A pathogen is a tiny living organism, such as a bacterium or virus, that makes people sick. Washing your hands frequently helps you avoid the pathogens that can make you sick. Pathos is the Greek word for disease and -genes means "born of." So, a pathogen is something that causes disease, like a virus like the rhinovirus, which causes the common cold. At summer picnics, people are cautious about keeping certain foods like potato salad in coolers with ice — the eggs in such dishes spoil quickly out in the heat, introducing pathogens that can make people sick.
Vocabulary lists containing pathogen
Common Senses: Path ("Feeling")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On average, a species acquires one additional human-infecting pathogen for every decade it is present in the global wildlife trade.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
The new research, which draws on 40 years of global trade records and pathogen data, attempts to measure the relationship on a larger scale.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
"It expands the geographic frame for understanding how tuberculosis circulated in the past and highlights the value of integrating pathogen genomics into broader reconstructions of human history."
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026
She added that the drugs did not provide effective coverage against a Gram-positive organism, which was the most likely pathogen causing the infection.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
Most human groups are a scattershot mix of HLA profiles, which means that almost always some people in the group will not get sick when exposed to a particular pathogen.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
