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Glite Dictionary
paleopathologist

paleopathologist

9.9
A scientist who studies diseases in ancient human or animal bones
  • noun
  • /ˌpeɪliəʊpəˈθɒlədʒɪst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : paleopatólogo
  • The paleopathologist carefully examined the ancient bones to determine the presence of diseases.

Examples

  • At the conference, the paleopathologist presented her findings on arthritis in Egyptian mummies.

  • I want every forensic paleopathologist to take note of this next one—

    Blog text (8)

  • And more recently, paleopathologists haven't unearthed evidence of syphilis in European cemeteries.

  • Currently, paleopathologist Dong-hoon Shin is studying a mid-18th-century female mummy with symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, hoping to provide evidence for the disease's history in East Asia.

    Academic text (2010)

  • While analyzing the remains, the paleopathologist found evidence of malnutrition in the skeleton.

Surface Forms

paleopathologist singular
paleopathologists plural

Morphology

paleopathologist = pathologist (transparent) = paleo + pathologist + paleo

The meaning is a straightforward prefixation: 'paleo' (ancient) added to 'pathologist' yields a specialist who studies ancient diseases.

Etymology

Paleopathologist comes from paleo- 'old', patho- 'disease', and -logist 'specialist', as in biologist. So a paleopathologist is like a detective of ancient diseases who studies sickness in old bones and mummies.