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Pathogenic vs Pathogen - What's the difference?

pathogenic | pathogen | Derived terms |

Pathogen is a derived term of pathogenic.



As an adjective pathogenic

is able to cause (harmful) disease.

As a noun pathogen is

any organism or substance, especially a microorganism, capable of causing disease, such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi. Microorganisms are not considered to be pathogenic until they have reached a population size that is large enough to cause disease.

pathogenic

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Able to cause (harmful) disease.
    • While the environment is teeming with bacteria and fungi, most are not pathogenic .

    Related terms

    * pathology

    pathogen

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (pathology, immunology) Any organism or substance, especially a microorganism, capable of causing disease, such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi. Microorganisms are not considered to be pathogenic until they have reached a population size that is large enough to cause disease.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-01
    • , author=Katie L. Burke , title=Ecological Dependency , volume=101, issue=1, page=64 , magazine= citation , passage=In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature , David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.}}

    Derived terms

    * pathogenic * pathogenesis * pathogenous * pathogeny

    Anagrams

    * *