pathogen
Americannoun
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any disease-producing agent, especially a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism.
noun
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any agent that can cause disease
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An agent that causes infection or disease, especially a microorganism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, or a virus.
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See Note at germ
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A disease-causing agent. Microorganisms, viruses, and toxins are examples of pathogens.
Other Word Forms
- antipathogen noun
Etymology
Origin of pathogen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By combining genetic, archaeological, environmental, and pathogen data, the study reveals how ancient communities dealt with overlapping challenges such as climate instability, food stress, and disease.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026
She added that the drugs did not provide effective coverage against a Gram-positive organism, which was the most likely pathogen causing the infection.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
Why do two people exposed to the same pathogen respond so differently?
From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026
We now have a much clearer picture of how humanity’s successes—population growth, food production, urbanization, globalization—have stoked pathogen evolution.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
Most human groups are a scattershot mix of HLA profiles, which means that almost always some people in the group will not get sick when exposed to a particular pathogen.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.