cancer
/ˈkæːnsə/ · can·cer
noun
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A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation. The patient was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy.
noun
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Something damaging that spreads throughout something else. The company's financial cancer spread throughout the industry, causing widespread layoffs.
Etymology
The word 'cancer' originates from the Latin 'cancer', meaning crab, which was used by the Greek physician Galen to describe the constellation associated with the zodiac sign Cancer. This term was later adopted to describe the disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth.
Did you know? The term 'cancer' was first used by the Greek physician Hippocrates to describe a lump on the breast of a woman, and it was later adopted by Galen to describe the disease associated with the constellation Cancer.
Written by Lexi Wordsworth, Dictionary Editor
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Added Jul 14, 2026