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pathogenic

pathogenic

5 7.0
Able to cause disease in people, animals or plants
  • adjective
  • /ˌpæθəˈdʒɛnɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : patógeno
  • In a laboratory, researchers studied various strains of pathogenic bacteria to understand their effects on health.
  • pathogenic bacteria
  • pathogenic organism
  • highly pathogenic

So you have data on variants which are pathogenic and variants which are benign.

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Examples

  • We do know that microplastics are fertile ground for pathogenic bacteria, which isn't exactly what you want to eat.

  • In fact, there's a great study done finding that honey inhibits pathogenic bacteria like staph infection, staph aureus, and E coli.

  • There may be pathogenic organisms inside.

  • Children in developing countries are exposed to an array of pathogenic organisms.

    Academic text (2015)
  • What if scientists wanted to make highly pathogenic viruses even more transmissible and dangerous?

  • Nevertheless, they argued that it is indeed pathogenic, based on their DNA-detection studies.

    Academic text (2003)
  • So bacterial infections can be caused by pathogenic gut bugs, things that we've heard of like salmonella, E coli or Shigella.

  • The doctor explained that pathogenic microorganisms are a major cause of infectious diseases.

  • Certain pathogenic viruses are responsible for outbreaks of disease in communities.

Synonyms

infectious
vspathogenic
  • Specialized
76 3.9

A disease that can spread from one person to another

emphasizes causing disease rather than person to person transmission
virulent
vspathogenic
  • Specialized
14 9.1

Very harmful and able to cause disease that spreads quickly

means capable of causing disease but not necessarily fast or severe
infective
vspathogenic
  • Specialized
1 7.4

Able to make people sick and spread disease

focuses on being capable of causing disease rather than stressing spread
morbific
vspathogenic
  • Archaic
9.9

Able to cause disease in people or animals

is the same meaning expressed with a different term
highly infective
vspathogenic
  • Specialized
5.6

Very likely to make people sick

describes general capability without implying extreme transmission
pestilent
vspathogenic
  • Specialized
9.9

Likely to cause a serious illness that spreads quickly

is capable of causing disease but not specifically linked to epidemics
pestiferous
vspathogenic
  • Literature
9.9

Likely to spread disease

refers to causing disease rather than being chiefly a contaminant
plaguey
vspathogenic
  • Archaic
9.9

Likely to spread quickly and cause a disease outbreak

is about causing disease generally, not specifically widespread epidemics

Antonyms

nonpathogenic
  • Specialized
5.2

Cannot cause disease in people or animals

How Pathogenic

virulent
  • Specialized
14 9.1
pathogenic
  • Specialized
5 7.0
nonpathogenic
  • Specialized
5.2

Surface Forms

pathogenic positive

Morphology

pathogenic = patho + gen + ic

The meaning is compositionally related to patho- 'disease' plus gen + -ic, but these are learned scientific forms rather than everyday English morphemes.

Etymology

Pathogenic comes from Greek parts path- meaning 'disease' and -genic meaning 'producing', the same idea you see in generate. So, pathogenic literally means 'producing disease', which is why we use it for microbes that cause illness.