Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pathogen

/ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.17 in modern English

Syllables: path-o-gen
IPA: /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Example Sentences

"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."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Proto-Indo-European

Word Breakdown

Prefix: patho
Root: *ǵenh₁-, γένος
Suffix: gen

Inflected Forms

pathogens (plural)

Derived Forms

allopathogen antipathogen biopathogen copathogen endopathogen enteropathogen entomopathogen exopathogen hemopathogen immunopathogen micropathogen multipathogen

Frequently Paired Words

pathologically pathological pathologic pathologization pathology pathosis

Synonyms

infectious agent

Questions

How do you pronounce pathogen?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/.
What does pathogen mean?: An agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.
Where does pathogen come from?: It is traced to Proto-Indo-European.

How to pronounce pathogen

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pathogen”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pathogen”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pathogen” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.