Pathogenic
/ˌpæθəˈdʒɛnɪk/noun
Causing disease or capable of producing disease.
Did you know?Pathogenic comes from Greek roots tied to suffering and birth/creation, so in its oldest sense it describes something that *generates pain* rather than merely causing illness.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
pathos
“suffering, experience, feeling, emotion”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-genēs
“born of, produced by; producing”
Late 19th Century
English
pathogenic
“producing disease”
Modern English
English
pathogenic
“causing or capable of causing disease”