Which prefix pertains to disease?

• A. Patho-
• B. Pathology
• C. Pathologic
• D. Pathogen

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is recognizing the meaning of medical prefixes. Patho- means disease, and it is used at the start of terms to indicate disease or disease-related processes. That makes it the prefix that pertains to disease. For example, pathophysiology explores how disease alters function, and pathogenesis looks at how a disease develops. The other options aren’t prefixes indicating disease: pathology is the study of disease (a standalone term), pathologic is an adjective describing something related to disease, and pathogen refers to a disease-causing agent and is built with a root plus a suffix rather than a prefix meaning disease.