Pathognomonic

Pathognomonic (rare synonym pathognomic[1]) is a term, often used in medicine, that means "characteristic for a particular disease". A pathognomonic sign is a particular sign whose presence means that a particular disease is present beyond any doubt. The absence of a pathognomonic sign does not rule out the disease. Labelling a sign or symptom "pathognomonic" represents a marked intensification of a "diagnostic" sign or symptom.

The word is an adjective of Greek origin derived from πάθος pathos 'disease' and γνώμων gnomon 'indicator' (from γιγνώσκω gignosko 'I know, I recognize').

  1. ^ "Pathognomic". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018.