Pathologist

How to spell pathologist

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce pathologist

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pathologist mean?

1. nounA doctor or scientist who studies the causes and effects of disease, often by examining tissue, fluids, or organs.

Pathologist in a sentence

• The pathologist examined the tissue sample under a microscope to confirm the diagnosis.

• Hospital results were delayed because the pathologist was still reviewing the biopsy.

Where does pathologist come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built from two Greek elements: pathos, which meant 'suffering' or 'feeling' and came to signify disease, and logos, meaning 'word', 'account', or 'study'. Joined together they form the idea of 'the study of disease', and the agent suffix -ist marks the person who carries out that study. The parent noun 'pathology' appeared in English in the seventeenth century, modelled on scientific Latin and French coinages of the period, and 'pathologist' followed as the name for the specialist. The same pathos root surfaces in everyday words such as 'sympathy' (suffering with someone) and 'pathetic', which helps explain the otherwise silent-feeling 'th' in the middle of the word. Because the second syllable carries the stress, the surrounding vowels collapse to a faint schwa, which is exactly where careful spellers can slip.

How the word is built

• path- (from Greek pathos: suffering, disease)
• -o- (connecting vowel)
• log- (from logos: study, account)
• -ist (one who practises)