carcinoma

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carcinoma

/ˌkɑːsɪˈnəʊmə/ UK
/ˌkɑːsnˈəʊmə/ UK
/ˌkɑɹsɪˈnoʊmə/ US
/-sə-/ US
/ˌkɑːsɪˈnəʊmətə/ UK
/ˌkɑːsnˈəʊmətə/ UK
/ˌkɑɹsɪˈnoʊmətə/ US
[-ɾə] US
/ˌkɑːsɪnəʊˈmɑːtə/ UK
/ˌkɑːsnəʊˈmɑːtə/ UK
/ˌkɑɹsɪnoʊˈmɑtə/ US

Rhymes with -əʊmə

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin carcinōma (“tumour; ulcer; carcinoma”), from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰ (kărkĭ́nōmă, “sore, ulcer; cancer”), from καρκινόω (karkinóō, “to make (something) resemble a crab”, in the mediopassive "to become cancerous; to suffer from cancer") + -μᾰ (-mă, action noun suffix). Καρκινόω is derived from καρκῐ́νος (karkĭ́nos, “crab; the zodiac sign Cancer; sore, ulcer; cancer”) (according to Paul of Aegina (c. 625 – c. 690) in his Medical Compendium in Seven Books, because the veins surrounding a cancerous tumour resemble a crab’s legs). The English word is a doublet of cancer, and may be analysed as carcino- + -oma.

The plural form carcinomata is a learned borrowing from Latin carcinōmata, from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐνώμᾰτᾰ (kărkĭnṓmătă).

noun carcinomas · carcinomata

countable An invasive malignant tumour derived from epithelial tissue that tends to metastasize to other areas of the body.
countable, obsolete A form of cancer; (uncountable) cancer in general as a disease. Take the fatteſt and fulleſt Figs you can get, lay them upon the ugly and ill favored tumor called Carcinoma, i. the Canker, ſo it be not yet exulcerat, I aſſure you it is a ſoveraine remedie, and hardly can be matched againe: […]

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tumor, tumour, cancer, breast, situ, cell, malignancy, malignant neoplasm, neoplasm, ductal carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, epithelial cancer, epithelioma, malignant growth, malignant tumor, metastatic carcinoma

Translations

Every language

noun invasive malignant tumor derived from epithelial tissue

Español	carcinoma
한국어	암종 amjong
日本語	癌腫 ganshu
中文	癌 ái
Português	carcinoma
Français	carcinome
Deutsch	Karzinom
Italiano	carcinoma
Ελληνικά	καρκίνωμα karkínoma
Română	carcinom
Русский	карцино́ма karcinóma
Tiếng Việt	ung thư biểu mô
العربية	سرطانة, سَرَطَان saraṭān
עברית	קרצינומה

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MLA

"carcinoma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/carcinoma. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

carcinoma. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/carcinoma

Chicago

"carcinoma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/carcinoma.

BibTeX

@misc{carcinoma_2026,
  title = {carcinoma},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/carcinoma},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}