Editing Pathognomonic (section)

{{Short description|Medical term meaning "characteristic for a particular disease"}}
'''Pathognomonic''' (synonym ''pathognomic''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pathognomic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527120714/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pathognomic |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 27, 2018 |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries |title=Pathognomic}}</ref>) is a term, often used in [[medicine]], that means "characteristic for a particular [[disease]]". A pathognomonic [[Signs and symptoms|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 [[Signs and symptoms|symptom]] "pathognomonic" represents a marked intensification of a "diagnostic" sign or symptom.

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