carcinogen
Meaninga maker of tumours
Common meaning: a cancer-causing substance
- carcina crab; a spreading tumourLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 745 · scan
- genbirth, descent, race; a typeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 810 · scan
‘a crab’ + ‘birth, descent, race’ → carcinogen
Journey through time
Hybrid: Greek + Latin Its parts come from different languages; our sources do not record where they were first put together.
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- carcin — Greek καρκίνος “a crab; a spreading tumour” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- gen — Latin genus, generis “birth, descent, race; a type” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek καρκίνος ‘a crab; a spreading tumour’ + Latin genus ‘birth, descent, race; a type’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry genus, p. 810 · dictionary scan
Roots
- genus, generis Latin “birth, descent, race; a type”
- καρκίνος Greek “a crab; a spreading tumour”
Related words
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