Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Specific to a certain disease or condition, as a symptom or finding on physical examination.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In medicine, indicating that by which a disease may be certainly known; hence, belonging to or inseparable from a disease, being found in it and in no other; characteristic: as, pathognomonic symptoms.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Med.) Specially or decisively characteristic of a disease; indicating with certainty a disease.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective diagnostic beyond any doubt for a particular disease.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek pathognōmonikos : patho-, patho- + gnōmonikos, able to judge (from gnōmōn, interpreter; see gnō- in Indo-European roots).]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pathognomonic.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.