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cancer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Cancer, cáncer, cancèr, Cáncer, càncer, câncer, and Câncer

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”) (possibly cognate), applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cancer (countable and uncountable, plural cancers)

  2. (medicine, oncology, pathology) A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation.
    Synonym: malignancy
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion‎[1]:
      If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the […] hazards of gasoline cars: air and water pollution, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates.
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.
    • 2015 February 26, Francis S. Collins, Harold Varmus, “A New Initiative on Precision Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 372, number 9, →DOI, pages 793–794:
      Cancers are common diseases; in the aggregate, they are among the leading causes of death nationally and worldwide, and their incidence is increasing as the population ages.
  3. (figuratively) Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.
    • 1991, Charlie Peacock, “In the Light”‎[2]:
      The disease of the self runs through my blood; It's a cancer fatal to my soul.
    • 1999, Bruce Clifford Ross-Larson, Effective Writing‎[3], page 134:
      Sierra Leone's post-dictator problems are almost absurd in their breadth. It once exported rice; now it can't feed itself. The life span of the average citizen is 39, the shortest in Africa. Unemployment stands at 87 percent and tuberculosis is spreading out of control. Corruption, brazen and ubiquitous, is a cancer on the economy.
    • 2025 December 20, Richard Fausset, Ken Bensinger, quoting Steve Bannon, “Turning Point’s Annual Gathering Turns Into a Gripefest”, in The New York Times‎[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      The following day, Mr. [Stephen K.] Bannon called Mr. [Ben] Shapiro a “cancer” on the movement, and Ms. [Megyn] Kelly said she resented Mr. Shapiro’s attacks.
      (Can we archive this URL?)

Synonyms

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Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Coordinate terms

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  • benign tumor
  • benign neoplasm
  • benign neoplasia

Derived terms

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types of cancer; hyponymic
unsorted terms
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Descendants

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Translations

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Adjective

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cancer (comparative more cancer, superlative most cancer)

  1. (slang) Extremely unpleasant and annoying.
    Synonyms: (slang) cancerous, (slang) AIDS
    I used to love this game, but the new meta is straight up cancer.

See also

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References

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Anagrams

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Basque

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Etymology

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Ultimately from Latin cancer (“crab”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (most dialects) /kans̻er/ [kãn.s̻er]
  • IPA(key): (Biscayan) /kans̺er/ [kãn.s̺er]

 

  • Hyphenation: can‧cer

Noun

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cancer inan or anim

  1. (astrology) Cancer
    Synonym: karramarro
  2. Cancer (someone with a Cancer star sign)

Declension

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Declension of cancer (anim/inan C-stem)
indefinite singular plural proximal plural
absolutive cancer cancerra cancerrak cancerrok
ergative cancerrek cancerrak cancerrek cancerrok
dative cancerri cancerrari cancerrei cancerroi
genitive cancerren cancerraren cancerren cancerron
comitative cancerrekin cancerrarekin cancerrekin cancerrokin
causative cancerrengatik cancerrarengatik cancerrengatik cancerrongatik
benefactive cancerrentzat cancerrarentzat cancerrentzat cancerrontzat
instrumental cancerrez cancerraz cancerrez cancerrotaz
innesive anim. cancerrengan cancerrarengan cancerrengan cancerrongan
inan. cancerretan cancerrean cancerretan cancerrotan
locative anim. — — — —
inan. cancerretako cancerreko cancerretako cancerrotako
allative anim. cancerrengana cancerrarengana cancerrengana cancerrongana
inan. cancerretara cancerrera cancerretara cancerrotara
terminative anim. cancerrenganaino cancerrarenganaino cancerrenganaino cancerronganaino
inan. cancerretaraino cancerreraino cancerretaraino cancerrotaraino
directive anim. cancerrenganantz cancerrarenganantz cancerrenganantz cancerronganantz
inan. cancerretarantz cancerrerantz cancerretarantz cancerrotarantz
destinative anim. cancerrenganako cancerrarenganako cancerrenganako cancerronganako
inan. cancerretarako cancerrerako cancerretarako cancerrotarako
ablative anim. cancerrengandik cancerrarengandik cancerrengandik cancerrongandik
inan. cancerretatik cancerretik cancerretatik cancerrotatik
partitive cancerrik — — —
prolative cancertzat — — —

Further reading

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  • “cancer”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Chinese

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Etymology

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From English cancer.

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • ken1 saa2 - Hong Kong;
  • ken6 sa1 - Ipoh.

    Noun

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    cancer

    1. (Cantonese) cancer (disease)
      生cancer [Cantonese]  ―  saang1 ken1 saa2 [Jyutping]  ―  to have cancer

    Synonyms

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    Danish

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from Latin cancer.

    Noun

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    cancer c (singular definite canceren, not used in plural form)

    1. cancer (disease)
    2. (slang) Something perceived as bad.

    Declension

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    Declension of cancer
    common
    gender     		singular
    indefinite definite
    nominative cancer canceren
    genitive cancers cancerens

    French

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from Latin cancer. Doublet of chancre, which was inherited, and cancre.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    cancer m (plural cancers)

    1. cancer

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    Further reading

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    Latin

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    Etymology

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      From Proto-Italic *kankros, dissimilation of Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”) (because the pincers of a crab form a circle), from Proto-Indo-European *kr-kr- (“circular”), reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”) in the sense of "enclosure", and as such a doublet of carcer. Cognate with curvus. The medical sense, found in Celsus, seems likely to be a semantic loan from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”), which is possibly cognate.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      cancer m (genitive cancrī); second declension

      1. a crab
        1. (Astronomy) the constellation Cancer
      2. a tumor, cancer
        Synonym: carcinōma
      3. a lattice, grid, or barrier

      Declension

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      Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

      singular plural
      nominative cancer cancrī
      genitive cancrī cancrōrum
      dative cancrō cancrīs
      accusative cancrum cancrōs
      ablative cancrō cancrīs
      vocative cancer cancrī
      • In classical Latin, usually declined as a masculine second-declension noun with the stem cancro-.
      • Third-declension forms built on a stem cancer- also existed, but were much less frequent. Attested forms include:
        • genitive singular canceris (Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.617)
        • accusative plural cancerēs (Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 157.3.4)
      • The grammarians Charisius and Priscian describe a use as a neuter noun, with Priscian specifying that this applies when the word is used for the illness; the neuter occurs sporadically in later Christian authors.[1]

      Derived terms

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      Descendants

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      Learned borrowings:

      References

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      1. ^ Jerry Russell Craddock, "The Romance descendants of Latin cancer and vespa" in Romance Philology, Vol. 60 (2006), Homage Issue: Special Combined issue of Romance Philology In Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Romance Philology : A homage volume dedicated to Jerry R. Craddock, containing a selection of his obra dispersa on Romance historical linguistics, pp. 1–42. page 5 http://www.jstor.org/stable/44741756

      Further reading

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      Old English

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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      From Latin cancer.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /ˈkɑn.ker/, [ˈkɑŋ.ker]

      Noun

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      cancer m

      1. cancer
      2. crab

      Declension

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      Strong a-stem:

      singular plural
      nominative cancer cancras
      accusative cancer cancras
      genitive cancres cancra
      dative cancre cancrum

      Derived terms

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      Descendants

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      References

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      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from French cancer, from Latin cancer.

      Noun

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      cancer n (plural cancere)

      1. cancer

      Declension

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      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative cancer cancerul cancere cancerele
      genitive-dative cancer cancerului cancere cancerelor
      vocative cancerule cancerelor
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      Swedish

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      Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia sv

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      cancer c

      1. (medicine, oncology, pathology) cancer

      Declension

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      Declension of cancer
      nominative genitive
      singular indefinite cancer cancers
      definite cancern cancerns
      plural indefinite cancrar cancrars
      definite cancrarna cancrarnas

      Synonyms

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      Derived terms

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      See also

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      References

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      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=cancer&oldid=89554953"