patho-

combining form

: pathological state : disease

pathogen

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek, combining form from páthos "experience, misfortune, emotion, condition" — more at pathos

Note: The use of compounds and derivatives of Greek páthos in the sense "disease" appears to date from Galen and other Greek medical writers of the 2nd century A.D. Note Galen's tò pathologikòn méros as a name for the science that deals with disease.