carcinoma
UK /ˌkɑːsɪˈnəʊmə/ · US /ˌkɑɹsɪˈnoʊmə/ noun
Forms carcinomas carcinomata
- noun (countable) An invasive malignant tumour derived from epithelial tissue that tends to metastasize to other areas of the body.
- noun (obsolete, countable) A form of cancer; (uncountable) cancer in general as a disease.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin carcinōma (“tumour; ulcer; carcinoma”), from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰ (kărkĭ́nōmă, “sore, ulcer; cancer”), from καρκινόω (karkinóō, “to make (something) resemble a crab”, in the mediopassive "to become cancerous; to suffer from cancer") + -μᾰ (-mă, action noun suffix). Καρκινόω is derived from καρκῐ́νος (karkĭ́nos, “crab; the zodiac sign Cancer; sore, ulcer; cancer”) (according to Paul of Aegina (c. 625 – c. 690) in his Medical Compendium in Seven Books, because the veins surrounding a cancerous tumour resemble a crab’s legs). The English word is a doublet of cancer, and may be analysed as carcino- + -oma.
The plural form carcinomata is a learned borrowing from Latin carcinōmata, from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐνώμᾰτᾰ (kărkĭnṓmătă).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A cancer. By some medical writers, the term is applied to an indolent tumor. See Cancer. Dunglison.
Etymology [L., fr. Gr. -oma.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “carcinoma”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details