# carcinoma

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌkɑːsɪˈnəʊmə/ · frequency rank #23,774

## Definitions
1. An invasive malignant tumour derived from epithelial tissue that tends to metastasize to other areas of the body.
2. A form of cancer; (uncountable) cancer in general as a disease.

## Etymology
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).

## Common misspellings (13)
`acrcinoma`, `cacrinoma`, `carccinoma`, `carcinmoa`, `carcinnoma`, `carcinoam`, `carcinomma`, `carcionma`, `carcnioma`, `caricnoma`, `carrcinoma`, `ccarcinoma`, `cracinoma`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/carcinoma