cancern.adj.

Brit.

/ˈkansə/, U.S.

/ˈkænsər/

Forms:

α. Middle English canser, Middle English– cancer, late Middle English canceriez (plural).

β. (In sense A. 1a, in Latin genitive form) 1700s– Cancri Brit. /ˈkaŋkri/, U.S. /ˈkæŋkri/.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French cancer; Latin cancer.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French cancer (name of) the fourth sign of the zodiac (1119 or earlier in Anglo-Norman, 1372 in Middle French), malignant tumour, cancer, ulcer (2nd half of 14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman, 1478 in Middle French; now obsolete in sense ‘ulcer’; also in figurative use), eight-tailed bandage (1685 in the passage translated in quot. 1706 at sense A. 5) and its etymon classical Latin cancer crab, the constellation Cancer, various diseases including apparently malignant tumours, cankers, gangrene, in post-classical Latin also any of several plants used medicinally for the treatment of ulcers and cancers (1521 in the passage translated in quot. 1546 at sense A. 4) < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek καρκίνος crab, sign of the Zodiac, sore or ulcer, cancer, and perhaps Sanskrit karkaṭa crab. Compare earlier canker n. and also chancre n., and the foreign-language forms cited at those entries.For the transfer of sense from ‘crab’ to ‘tumour’ see note at carcinoma n.; the same explanation was widely cited by medieval writers (compare quot. ?a1425 at sense A. 2). The use of the Latin genitive case form as postmodifier in star names (see sense A. 1a) is a practice that originated in post-classical Latin. With sense A. 1c compare earlier Cancerian n. With sense A. 5 compare French cancer de Galien type of bandage (1752; now probably obsolete).

A. n.

1. In form Cancer.

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a. Astronomy. (The name of) an inconspicuous constellation on the ecliptic between Gemini and Leo, noted for the star cluster Praesepe (the Beehive or Manger), and traditionally said to represent the crab crushed under the foot of Hercules; the Crab. Also (in form Cancri) used as postmodifier in the names of stars belonging to this constellation. Abbreviated Cnc (no point).

b. Astrology. (The name of) the fourth sign of the zodiac (originally coincident with the constellation), usually associated with the period 21 June to 21 July (the precise dates may vary from year to year); the Crab. Symbol ♋.One of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations.Tropic of Cancer: see the first element; first point of Cancer: see point n.¹ Phrases 5b. Cf. canker n. 7.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [noun] > Cancer

cankerOE

crabc1000

cancerc1392

tropicc1400

c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 24 (MED) Tak thanne..a boydekyn &, in direct of the hed of cancer, thow shalt in the cercle þat is closere of the signes..make a litel hole.

1482 W. Caxton Trevisa's Higden ii. i. f. 103^v But he wold meene as marcianus seyth in his astrologye that the signe capricornus the grete maketh somer to the antypodes and the cancer the signe maketh to them wynter.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 38^v In the season of somer er the sun rose As it come into canser.

1594 T. Blundeville Exercises vi. xiv. f. 294 The Sunne being in the fourth degree of Cancer.

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 194 And adde more coles to Cancer when he burnes, With entertaining great Hiperion.

1659 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. 218 Cancer, the Crab, it hath 9. Stars.

1727 J. Thomson Summer 12 When..Cancer reddens with the Solar Blaze.

1782 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 72 158 He has frequently obseved ζ Cancri, the star near Procyon, and the star in Monoceros, without perceiving the small stars near them.

1800 J. Barrett Enq. Origins of Zodiac 4 The Signs limiting the Sun's excursions were called Cancer and Capricorn, from the nature of these animals.

1833 T. B. Macaulay Ess. (1854) I. 239/1 The American dependencies of the Castilian crown still extended far to the North of Cancer and far to the South of Capricorn.

1890 A. M. Clerke Syst. Stars ix. 139 The light-change of S. Cancri, the second of the Algol variables, was discovered by Mr. Hind in 1848.

1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) 12 The northern tropic was called the Tropic of Cancer, because when these ideas were first brought to light the solstitial point was observed to lie within the constellation of Cancer.

1968 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 78 363 The Aselli (Asses) are two naked-eye stars, δ and γ Cancri, which guard the ‘Manger’ to the east.

1982 C. Rose Astrol. Counselling v. 47 A client may have Jupiter in Cancer in the seventh house and be experiencing a period of inner questioning.

2003 Daily Tel. 31 Mar. 22/5 To the east of Cancer lies the large constellation of Leo the Lion, named after the First Labour of Hercules.

c. Astrology. A person born under the zodiacal sign of Cancer.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [noun] > Cancer > person born under

Cancerian1911

moon child1923

cancera1963

a1963 L. MacNeice Astrol. (1964) iii. 77 Many astrologers would advise a Pisces type to marry a Cancer but not a Virgo.

1970 L. Goodman Sun Signs 145 Cancer's heart is too soft not to be touched by someone's need.

1985 London Portrait Mag. Apr. 196/2 It would seem to tie in with Charles's chart that from August Cancer feels more secure, more nurtured and loved.

2005 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 12 Nov. a8/2 You may also like the subtle ways of Cancer, who alone seems to understand your Scorpio side.

2. Now Zoology. A crab. In later use (in form Cancer) chiefly as a scientific Latin genus name, originally used (by Linnaeus) to cover all crabs and lobsters but later restricted to a group of crabs exemplified by the edible crab, Cancer pagurus; a crab of this genus.Valid publication of the genus name: Linnaeus Systema Naturæ (ed. 10, 1758) I. 625.In early use often in extended metaphors in the context of disease.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab)

crabc1000

crab-fisha1400

cancer?a1425

partan1428

crayfish1509

canker1562

rock crab1736

fiery-tangs1813

cancroid1852

brachyuran1877

partan-crab1893

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 87 (MED) It is rounde and putteþ oute veynez in þe circuite þat ar as feete of þe Cancer i. crabbe.

1597 P. Lowe Whole Course Chirurg. iv. xiii. sig. L3 The vlcered is immobill, hot by accident, hauing many veines about it, like the feete of Cancer.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 131 The like things are reported of the Aspes, Cancers, & Torteyses of Egypt.

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. iii. 47 The slowest snaile makes more speed forth-right, then the swiftest retrograde Cancer.

1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 40 In some insects, it [sc. the mouth] is placed under the breast, as in the chermes, coccus, cancer, (crab) and curculio.

1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. I i. 121 The anchor'd Pinna, and his Cancer-friend.

1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 126/2 It should be remembered that Mr. Milne-Edwards's genus Cancer (crabe) differs from that of Dr. Leach.

1924 Jrnl. Morphol. & Physiol. 39 47 In the present article various stages in the spermatogenesis of Cancer crabs..will be discussed from a comparative standpoint.

1953 P. M. Roedel Common Ocean Fishes Calif. Coast 31 The crabs, particularly the Cancers with their large, powerful chelae.

2006 F. J. Vega et al. Stud. Mexican Paleontol. v. 81 Decapod crustacean taxa that have very similar dorsal carapace morphologies throughout the genus such as in the genus Cancer.

a. Medicine. Originally: any of various types of non-healing sore or ulcer (cf. canker n. 1a). In later use (chiefly as mass noun): spec. malignant neoplastic disease, in which there is an uncontrolled proliferation of cells, typically with invasion and destruction of adjacent normal tissue, and often with metastatic spread to distant parts of the body via lymphatics or blood vessels; an instance of this, a malignant tumour. Frequently with distinguishing word, usually indicating the type or site of origin of the cancer.In technical contexts, sometimes used specifically for malignant neoplasms of epithelial origin (see carcinoma n. 1).breast, chimney-sweeper's, colloid, lung cancer, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [noun] > cancer

cankereOE

cancer1527

carcinoma1583

carcinomatosis1872

big C1959

scirrhus2003

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [noun] > tumour > malignant tumours

cancer1527

carcinoma1583

crab1614

scirrhus1759

sarcoma1804

malignant melanoma1838

melanocarcinoma1857

adenosarcoma1871

adenocarcinoma1872

angiosarcoma1873

lymphosarcoma1874

mycosis fungoides1874

melanosarcoma1875

osteosarcoma1876

chondrosarcoma1883

psammosarcoma1886

trophoblast1889

liposarcoma1893

multiple myeloma1897

sarcoid1899

leiomyosarcoma1914

spongioblastoma1918

osteogenic sarcoma1923

sympathicoblastoma1927

reticulosarcoma1928

carcinoma in situ1932

malignancy1934

teratocarcinoma1946

sympathoblastoma1960

sympathogonioma1966

sympathicogonioma1974

1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon cxx. following sig. Hii/1 The Cancer [Ger. krebs] wasshed with the same and clowtes wet ther in layde ther vpon, cawseth them to hele.

1565 J. Hall tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. iii. ii. 33 Vnderstande that a Cancer is eyther vlcerate or not.

1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things x. 289 It heales and cures all Fystulaes, Cancers, Noli me tangere, the Kings Euyll, and euery other eating Sore.

?1587 A. Hunton tr. B. Textor Natures of Cancers 57 in J. Guillemeau Worthy Treat. Eyes (new ed.) Of vlcered cancers those onely are cut & seared, whiche are in the vppermost part of the body.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. Gloss. Cancer is a swelling or sore comming of melancholy bloud, about which the veins appeare of a blacke or swert colour, spread in manner of a Creifish clees.

1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ i. xlviii. 114 Καρκινος, Cancer is a hard round Tumour blew or blackish having pain and beating.

1747 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 254 On some a relentless cancer has fastened its envenomed teeth.

1768 G. White Let. 27 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 53 The wonderful method of curing cancers by means of toads.

1800 J. Chambers Pocket Herbal 286 A Bleeding Cancer was cured by drinking twice a day a quarter of a pint of the juice of Cleavers, or Goose-grass, and covering the wounds with the bruised leaves.

1821 E. C. Knight Jrnl. 21 June in C. Knight Autobiogr. (1861) II. vi. 123 The Duchess-Dowager of Orleans has been for several weeks in a sad state with a cancer.

1877 F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 274 Cancer is decidedly a hereditary disease.

1916 Science 14 Jan. 69/1 Cancer (both carcinoma and sarcoma) is due to errors in the mode of living, not only to an overindulgence in a meat diet.

1933 D. Thomas Let. Feb. (1987) 13 Telegrams, dying aunts, cancer, especially of such a private part of the womb, distraught mothers & unpremeditated train-journeys, come rarely.

1988 R. Shilts Band played On iv. xix. 185 The diagnosis was Burkitt's lymphoma, a lymph cancer that was among the first human cancers linked to a virus.

1991 R. Ferguson Henry Miller xiii. 290 His mother was about to undergo an operation for the removal of a cancer.

2004 F. Lawrence Not on Label vi. 207 Cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer now account for about 30 per cent of the burden of ill health.

b. figurative and in figurative contexts. A malignant or destructive influence, likened to cancer in its tendency to spread, corrupt, and corrode, and its resistance to eradication.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > a harmful thing or person > thing > slow or stealthy

apostemec1380

cankera1475

cankerworm1580

cancer1597

sap1748

tapeworm1824

1597 H. M. tr. J. Du Bec-Crispin Hist. Tamerlan 28 To haue so daungerous a Cancer within his realme [Fr. vn Cancer au dedans si dangereux], as was the reuolting of the people.

1651 R. Baxter Plain Script. Proof Infants Church-membership & Baptism 274 This Cancer is a fretting and growing evil.

a1711 T. Ken Edmund vii, in Wks. (1721) II. 194 Sloth is a Cancer, eating up that Time Princes should cultivate for Things sublime.

1747 W. Major Retirement 10 Swoll'n Dropsy of the Mind, it taints the Whole; Corrosive Plague! the Cancer of the Soul!

1798 tr. T. Tasso Householder in Sel. from Most Celebrated Foreign Literary Jrnls. II. 456 Disorder is a sure demonstration, that there is a consuming cancer at the heart.

1832 Times 15 June 1/1 The Corn Law..that great plague spot, that cancer which eats into the vitals of the people.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues III. 74 The incurable cancer of the soul.

a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1970) 146 The priestly purge of evil, Corroding cancer at the world's deep root.

1952 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N. Y.) 3 Sept. 2/4 We must cut out the cancer which eats away with the faith of our people in their government.

1992 R. Harris Fatherland ii. 57 She sat alone in that big house—it was cancer of the soul.

2003 Statesman (India) (Nexis) 14 Mar. The cancer of corruption which corrodes the moral fabric of every society.

4. In early use: †a plant used medicinally for the treatment of ulcers and cancers; cf. cancerwort n. at Compounds 4 and canker n. 8a (obsolete). In later use (Scottish): red campion, Silene dioica, believed to cause cancer (rare).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > unidentified types of plants

sagittelc1400

bilgresa1475

cancer1546

alypum1597

nepenthe1605

heart a grasse1609

laskwort1647

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caryophyllaceae (chickweeds and allies) > [noun] > campion and ragged robin

cow-rattle14..

campion1576

behen1578

crowsoap1578

white campion1578

catchfly1597

feather-top wild campion1597

frothy poppy1597

lime-wort1597

nonsuch1597

sea campion1597

spattling poppy (also campion)1597

Greek rose1601

lychnis1601

knap-bottle1640

moss pink1641

Lobel's catchfly1664

red robin1678

moss campion1690

red campion1728

round robin1741

Silene1751

Nottingham catchfly1762

silenal1836

Robin Hood1844

thunder-flower1853

gunpowder weed1860

sea-catchfly1864

robin redbreast1880

poppy1886

thunderbolt1886

rattleweed1893

cancer1896

bladder-campion-

1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke i. xvii. f. xxxii.^v If he be stynged with a spider, he [sc. the Hart] healeth hym selfe with eatyng Pilles or a certain herbe named Cancer [L. cancros edendo sibi medentur].

1896 Garden-work 4 Mar. 112/1 Lychnis dioica, in at least one part of Kirkcudbrightshire, is called 'Cancer,' and was believed to cause that terrible disease.

†5. Medicine. An eight-tailed bandage (see quot. 1881). Also cancer bandage. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > bandage > [noun] > bandage of specific shape

cancer1706

capeline1706

spica1731

abnet1797

cravat1836

four-tailed bandage1844

figure of eight bandage1871

1706 tr. L. Verduc Manner curing Fractures iii. 26 in tr. A. Belloste Hosp. Surgeon (ed. 2) I here propose to lop off a great many Bandages that are of no Use in Practice, such as the Rhombus, the Demi-Rhombus,..the Scafa, the Cancer [Fr. le cancer], the Bandage with Four Heads, or Six Heads, or Eight Heads, [etc.].

1708 J. Moyle Chyrurg. Mem. 8 Then a folded Cloth was wrapped over it, and Cancer-bandage was made.

1881 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Cancer,..a term for an eight-tailed bandage; those resembling, it was thought, a crab's legs.

B. adj. (attributive).

Astrology. Born under the sign of Cancer; characteristic of a person born under this sign.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [adjective]

crabbed1634

Aquarius1894

Aries1894

cancer1894

Capricorn1894

Gemini1894

Leo1894

libra1894

Virgo1894

Taurian1909

Cancerian1915

Arian1917

Piscean1924

Pisces1924

Sagittarian1924

scorpionic1924

Taurean1924

aquariana1963

1894 ‘E. Kirk’ Influence of Zodiac xvii. 145 The Cancer men are far more constant than the Cancer women.

1924 C. E. O. Carter Conc. Encycl. Psychol. Astrol. 142 Cancer and Pisces people are often retiring and shy among strangers.

1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 25 Feb. n18 These are Cancer traits, and your time of birth gives you a Cancer ascendant.

2000 B. Ashman Signmates ii. 231 The Cancer man is self-conscious about his sensitivity.

Compounds

(In sense A. 3a.)

C1.

a. attributive, with the sense ‘of, relating to, affected by, or caused by cancer’, as cancer death, cancer element, cancer prevention, cancer rate, cancer tissue, cancer victim, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are entered separately at Compounds 1b.

ΚΠ

1848 W. H. Walshe in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. 136/1 Encephaloid stands apart from its co-species by containing true cancer-elements in greatest abundance.

1909 Chem. Abstr. 3 1766 Cancer tissue itself possesses no heterolytic properties.

1937 Life 16 Aug. 52/2 (caption) Worth $2,500, these 100 milligrams of radium..will go to a hospital to be used for arresting the reproduction of cells in cancer growths.

1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 102/1 Standardized mortality ratios..were computed to determine abnormally high or low cancer rates for each region.

1980 B. Van Der Horst in O. Davies Omni Bk. of Paranormal & Mind v. xxiv. 259 Marijuana has some use..as an analgesic for cancer victims.

1989 C. Caufield Multiple Exposures (1990) xxii. 232 X-rays..can reveal the early stages of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in American women.

2007 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Jan. 67/3 ‘Calorie restriction’ has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers..believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention.

cancer case n.

ΚΠ

1817 Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. July 226/1 And I am sanguine in the belief, that if early and undeviating experiments of this kind be made, they will prove efficacious in most, if not all, cancer cases.

1868 Lancet 12 Dec. 780/2 The total number of cancer cases is so extremely small, that we are..dealing with exceedingly low fractions.

1958 A. Huxley Let. 2 Feb. (1969) 845 The administration of LSD to terminal cancer cases, in the hope that it would make dying a more spiritual, less strictly physiological process.

cancer cell n.

ΚΠ

1840 London Med. Gaz. 15 May 317/2 Like the germ of the ovum, every individual cancer-cell must be regarded as an organism endowed with vital power and capability of development.

1842 Lancet 21 May 268/2 Numbers of cancer-cells contain young cells within their cavity.

1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) i. 7 If the causal agent can be carried from place to place, as, for instance, bacteria or groups of cancer cells, it is evident that it may..settle down in distant regions of the body, setting up new foci of disease.

2006 Guardian 18 Apr. i. 5/5 The US scientists..are particularly excited because ginger seems to offer a two-pronged attack on cancer cells: it makes them commit suicide, known as apoptosis, and self-digest, known as autophagy.

cancer patient n.

ΚΠ

1835 G. Waite Gums 75 Numerous opportunities are open to every one of examining the cancer patients at the various hospitals of this metropolis.

1941 Amer. Jrnl. Hygiene 34 1 (title) Metachronous multiple malignancies in 5,876 cancer patients.

2001 J. Diamond C: Because Cowards get Cancer Too (new ed.) xii. 232 I wasn't a cancer patient with special rights, just another schlemiel who'd broken his toe.

cancer phobia n.

ΚΠ

1922 Lancet 16 Sept. 639/2 The medical man's fear is that, as a result of this species of anti-cancer propaganda, cancer-phobia, already a recognised human ailment, would become rife.

1980 R. Rosenbaum in New West Nov. 28/1 Who, today, does not suffer from some degree of cancerphobia?

2000 Guardian 27 May (Weekend Suppl.) 69/3 The trouble is, once you've had your cancerphobia, you can't delete it.

cancer risk n.

ΚΠ

1927 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Tribune 26 Aug. 1/2 (heading) Gas and oil industries bring new cancer risk, research workers find.

1974 Times 20 Sept. 3/7 There seems little doubt that this link between regular use of reserpine and an increased cancer risk is genuine.

2002 Independent 20 Apr. i. 9/1 The independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) said it could not rule out a cancer risk from a chemical called dichlorvos which all the products contain.

C2.

a. attributive, with the sense ‘relating to or concerned with the treatment and study of cancer’, as cancer centre, cancer charity, cancer chemotherapy, cancer researcher, cancer surgery, cancer therapy, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately at Compounds 2b.

ΚΠ

1926 Lancet 25 Sept. 676/1 Dr. Gunsett, director of the cancer centre at Strasbourg.

1957 Listener 14 Nov. 780/1 The past ten years have seen a great deal of progress in the field of cancer chemotherapy.

1962 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. & Gynecol. 83 1189 (title) The concept of radicality in gynecologic cancer surgery.

1979 Nature 23 Aug. 638/1 Interferon is the great white hope of cancer therapy.

1991 Bicycle Guide Sept. 19/1 When this issue hits the stands, he'll have just finished the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge ride that benefits a local cancer charity.

1993 N.Y. Times 24 Oct. iii. 6/2 The Thompson family spent nearly $30 million on the cancer center.

2005 New Yorker 11 Apr. 47/3 Cancer researchers talk about gene-environment interactions—some smokers develop lung cancer, while others can smoke without becoming sick.

cancer cure n.

ΚΠ

1857 Lancet 4 Apr. 358/2 We applauded the authorities at the Middlesex for taking the reputed ‘cancer cure’ up.

1972 T. P. McMahon Issue of Bishop's Blood (1973) i. 15 The pathetic thousands who trek endlessly after the Pied Pipers of the cancer cures.

2005 Canad. Geographic May 106/2 A down payment on royalties, should they ever come, from the asthma medicine or the cancer cure that might be derived from the sponges of Bagabag.

cancer drug n.

ΚΠ

1936 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 18 Dec. a11/2 (heading) Human hair, chop suey sauce make cancer drug.

1987 Los Angeles Times 8 Nov. iv. 13/1 Agouron has concentrated its research on a handful of therapeutic drugs, including anti-viral and cancer drugs.

2006 Daily Tel. 13 Apr. 2/5 There are around 30 cancer drugs going through the later stages of clinical trials that could boost survival rates.

cancer hospital n.

ΚΠ

1809 R. Carmichael Ess. Effects Carbonate upon Cancer (ed. 2) vi. 393 But these and other difficulties will, I hope, not long maintain their ground, if the design of a few benevolent and active individuals is accomplished of establishing a Cancer Hospital in this City.

1883 Musical Times Nov. 615/2 Fruit and flowers, which after adorning the sanctuary were destined for distribution among the patients of the Cancer Hospital, Brompton.

1977 S. Sontag Illness as Metaphor i. 8 The country's largest cancer hospital mails routine communications and bills to outpatients in envelopes that do not reveal the sender.

2002 H. Habila Waiting for Angel (2003) 100 Do you know how much it costs to keep my mother here a day? Twenty thousand naira. This is the best cancer hospital in the country.

cancer research n.

ΚΠ

1899 Lancet 9 Dec. 1601/2 A ‘director of the cancer research laboratories’.

1951 E. B. White in New Yorker 10 Nov. 29/2 Virus diseases are now the white hope of cancer research.

2004 National Post (Canada) 17 May a11/4 The case revolved around a genetically engineered ‘oncomouse’ used in cancer research.

cancer specialist n.

ΚΠ

1879 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 21 Apr. The noted cancer specialist..has served one term in prison for counterfeiting.

1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 29 July 257/2 A cancer specialist who serves as a consultant to the local doctors.

2000 N.Y. Times 8 Aug. f8/3 After the operation, Jonah consulted a cancer specialist.

cancer treatment n.

ΚΠ

1868 Decatur (Illinois) Republican 31 Dec. 1/6 (advt.) I will forfeit One Thousand Dollars if my Cancer Treatment is not the Safest and Most Effectual of any that is used in the States.

1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 391 Additions to the powerful equipment for cancer treatment..included a cobalt 60 therapy unit producing X-rays of 3 million electron volts.

2002 Skeptical Inquirer Mar.–Apr. 16/2 Although laetrile remained outlawed in the U.S., Rep. Burton has continued to support other dangerous and absurd cancer treatments.

cancer ward n.

ΚΠ

1799 Med. Diary 19/2 J. Howard, Esq. Surgeon Ex. to the Cancer Ward, Argyle street.

1860 J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. (ed. 2) 512 I have derived about 50 [cases] from the records of the Cancer-wards in the Middlesex Hospital.

1999 C. Creedon Passion Play v. 29 There he was, in the hall outside the cancer ward, freezing me out.

C3. Objective.

cancer-causing adj.

ΚΠ

1914 Indianapolis Star 6 May 8/6 The cancer-causing, tuberculosis-spreading, and diphtheria-inciting custom of uncut finger nails.

1986 J. Batten Judges 152 The trouble with the wines seemed to be a potentially cancer-causing ingredient called ethyl carbamate.

2005 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 21 Jan. a4/5 The cancer-triggering gene apparently instigates the misbehavior of other cancer-causing genes, leading to tumor formation.

cancer-producing adj.

ΚΠ

1879 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Rev. 3 Sept. Tomatoes contain neither cancer nor cancer-producing matter.

1954 Sci. News 31 81 In respect of their cancer-producing properties these compounds resemble the older carcinogenic hydrocarbons.

1991 K. Dalton Once a Month (ed. 5) xxi. 202 These included stilboestrol, dioenoestrol and hexoestradiol, which have been shown to have some cancer-producing potential and are never used for oral administration today.

C4.

cancer bush n. [after Afrikaans kankerbos (earlier in South African Dutch as kankerbosch)] South African any of several plants of the South African genus Sutherlandia (family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae)), purported to have beneficial effects for cancer sufferers; esp. S. frutescens, now also used to treat HIV and AIDS.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > other non-British medicinal trees or shrubs

snake-wood1598

velvet-leaf1707

macary bittera1726

majoa1726

ahuehuete1778

cucumber-tree1784

bilimbi1790

rohuna1829

chaulmoogra1832

juriballi1834

horse-cassia1864

yaw-weed1864

cundurango1871

Chile senna1874

cancer bush1888

quinine tree1905

kankerbos1913

hydnocarpus1928

1888 A. Smith Contrib. to Materia Medica 95 Sutherlandia frutescens..Cancer bush. This shrub has been brought forward recently as a remedy for cancer.

1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo xvii. 277 The early settlers..used..the pretty little Sutherlandia humilis—the cancer bush—not only for cancer but for flu.

2005 M.-W. Ho et al. Unraveling AIDS xx. 148 ‘Cancer bush’..is another name given to Sutherlandia by Afrikaners that attests to its traditional use as a cancer remedy.

cancer cluster n. a series or group of cases of cancer, esp. a particular type of cancer, occurring in close proximity (either geographically or chronologically).

ΚΠ

1968 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 4 Aug. a12/7 Cancer clusters occur only now and then.

2004 S. H. Jenkins How Sci. Works 203 There are many reasons that apparent cancer clusters..are rarely conclusively tied to specific environmental causes.

cancer doctor n. (originally) a person offering purported cancer cures; (later) a doctor specializing in the treatment of cancer, an oncologist.

ΚΠ

1719 D. Turner De Morbis Cutaneis i. viii. 76 A villainous Empiric (a famous Cancer Doctor).

1774 L. Carter Diary (1965) II. 914 The Cancer doctor had given him over.

1881 Lancet 15 Oct. 657/2 There are consumption-doctors, cancer-doctors, gout-doctors, and the like.

1934 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 24 322 Cancer paste was used several weeks ago by a cancer doctor.

2001 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant (New Haven County/Shoreline ed.) 2 Oct. d3/3 There has not yet been a clinical trial proving that liver zapping extends life for five years or more—considered the gold standard for cancer doctors.

cancer doctress n. now historical a female cancer doctor.

ΚΠ

1768 G. White Let. 27 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 54 This woman..having set up for a cancer-doctress.

1887 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Republican 22 Apr. 3/4 Mrs. Dr. Martin, the cancer doctress, is in town.

1911 Folk-lore 22 306 He considered the ‘cancer doctress’ a fraud.

1999 Jrnl. Social Hist. Spring 757 The single ‘cancer doctress’ turns out to have been residing in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1790s.

cancer gene n. a gene which predisposes the subject to a form of cancer; an oncogene.

ΚΠ

1950 Austin (Texas) Statesman 5 Apr. 5/4 (heading) Evidence by Stanford pair aids cancer-gene theory.

1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. (1994) vii. iv. 278/1 In the cancer-associated or activated form, these genes are termed oncogenes (cancer genes), but when fulfilling their normal cellular role they are called proto-oncogenes.

2005 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Dec. 56/2 Twenty years ago we didn't know what human cancer genes were.

cancer herb n. chiefly U.S. the plant Acalypha arvensis (family Euphorbiaceae), used in the treatment of ulcers.

ΚΠ

1974 M. Simmons Witchcraft in Southwest x. 148 A healer was called in just in time to save the afflicted man and she dosed him with an elixir composed of cancer herb, Gonzalez herb, and guayuli.

2002 J. A. Duke et al. Handbk. Medicinal Herbs (ed. 2) 145 Cancer Herb (Acalypha arvensis Poepp. & Endl.).

cancer serum n. (a) fluid surrounding cancer cells; (b) antiserum to cancer cells; (c) the serum of a cancer patient.

ΚΠ

1853 J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. II. 374 The liquid (cancer-serum, as it has been named) is turbid.

1876 J. Van Duyn & E. C. Seguin tr. E. L. Wagner Man. Gen. Pathol. 479 Cancer-juice consists of cancer-cells and a usually scanty, fluid substance, the intercellular substance or cancer-serum.

1908 Lancet 31 Oct. 1300/2 The tumours treated with cancer serum dried up.

2003 Clin. Chem. 49 253 BPSA [= benign prostate-specific antigen] in a cohort of cancer serum also comprised 25% of the free PSA.

cancer stick n. humorous or colloquial a cigarette.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette

cigarito1832

paper cigar1833

cigarette1842

papelito1845

coffin-nailc1865

fag1885

butt1893

pill1901

scag1915

nail1925

quirly1932

tab1934

burn1941

draw1946

tube1946

snout1950

cancer stick1958

straight1959

ciggy1962

square1970

bifter1989

lung dart1990

dart2000

1958 J. Davis College Vocab. 13 Cancer stick, cigarette.

1959 J. Braine Vodi xxii. 242 There was a packet of cigarettes on the locker. She took one out and lit it. ‘First cancer stick today,’ she said.

1967 New Statesman 20 Jan. 77/2 To be able to..tempt fate by a debonair pull on a cancer stick is a way of asserting the individual's right to choose his own end.

1987 St Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 19 Sept. 12 a Cigarette manufacturers keep on pushing their cancer sticks while denying scientific evidence that smoking..kills.

2006 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 21 Feb. 14 As an ex-smoker, I know what these cancer sticks can do to one's health.

cancerwort n. [compare cankerwort n. at canker n. Compounds 2] any of various medicinal plants of (or formerly of) the family Scrophulariaceae, esp. speedwell (genus Veronica), and certain kinds of toadflax of the genus Kickxia (formerly included in Linaria).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Scrophulariaceae (figwort and allies) > [noun] > toadflax or cancer-wort

wild flaxa1400

cankerwortc1400

sulfc1450

linary1548

gall-wort1577

herb fluellin1578

toad-flax1578

cancerwort1597

flax-weed1597

linaria1597

butter and eggs1756

fluellin1756

1597 J. Gerard Herball Table Eng. Names Cancerwoort, that is Fluellen.

1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Cancer-wort, Linaria spuria and L. Elatine; also an old name for the genus Veronica.

1935 Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 22 639 Linaria spuria (L.) Mill. Cancerwort.

2001 T. S. Cooperrider et al. Seventh Catal. Vascular Plants Ohio 62 Kickxia elatine (L.) Dumort. Sharp-pointed Cancerwort. Kickxia spuria (L.) Dumort. Round-leaved Cancerwort.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	cancer
释义	cancern.adj. Brit. /ˈkansə/, U.S. /ˈkænsər/ Forms: α. Middle English canser, Middle English– cancer, late Middle English canceriez (plural). β. (In sense A. 1a, in Latin genitive form) 1700s– Cancri Brit. /ˈkaŋkri/, U.S. /ˈkæŋkri/. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French cancer; Latin cancer. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French cancer (name of) the fourth sign of the zodiac (1119 or earlier in Anglo-Norman, 1372 in Middle French), malignant tumour, cancer, ulcer (2nd half of 14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman, 1478 in Middle French; now obsolete in sense ‘ulcer’; also in figurative use), eight-tailed bandage (1685 in the passage translated in quot. 1706 at sense A. 5) and its etymon classical Latin cancer crab, the constellation Cancer, various diseases including apparently malignant tumours, cankers, gangrene, in post-classical Latin also any of several plants used medicinally for the treatment of ulcers and cancers (1521 in the passage translated in quot. 1546 at sense A. 4) < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek καρκίνος crab, sign of the Zodiac, sore or ulcer, cancer, and perhaps Sanskrit karkaṭa crab. Compare earlier canker n. and also chancre n., and the foreign-language forms cited at those entries.For the transfer of sense from ‘crab’ to ‘tumour’ see note at carcinoma n.; the same explanation was widely cited by medieval writers (compare quot. ?a1425 at sense A. 2). The use of the Latin genitive case form as postmodifier in star names (see sense A. 1a) is a practice that originated in post-classical Latin. With sense A. 1c compare earlier Cancerian n. With sense A. 5 compare French cancer de Galien type of bandage (1752; now probably obsolete). A. n. 1. In form Cancer. Thesaurus » Categories » a. Astronomy. (The name of) an inconspicuous constellation on the ecliptic between Gemini and Leo, noted for the star cluster Praesepe (the Beehive or Manger), and traditionally said to represent the crab crushed under the foot of Hercules; the Crab. Also (in form Cancri) used as postmodifier in the names of stars belonging to this constellation. Abbreviated Cnc (no point). b. Astrology. (The name of) the fourth sign of the zodiac (originally coincident with the constellation), usually associated with the period 21 June to 21 July (the precise dates may vary from year to year); the Crab. Symbol ♋.One of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations.Tropic of Cancer: see the first element; first point of Cancer: see point n.¹ Phrases 5b. Cf. canker n. 7. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [noun] > Cancer cankerOE crabc1000 cancerc1392 tropicc1400 c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 24 (MED) Tak thanne..a boydekyn &, in direct of the hed of cancer, thow shalt in the cercle þat is closere of the signes..make a litel hole. 1482 W. Caxton Trevisa's Higden ii. i. f. 103^v But he wold meene as marcianus seyth in his astrologye that the signe capricornus the grete maketh somer to the antypodes and the cancer the signe maketh to them wynter. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 38^v In the season of somer er the sun rose As it come into canser. 1594 T. Blundeville Exercises vi. xiv. f. 294 The Sunne being in the fourth degree of Cancer. 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 194 And adde more coles to Cancer when he burnes, With entertaining great Hiperion. View more context for this quotation 1659 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. 218 Cancer, the Crab, it hath 9. Stars. 1727 J. Thomson Summer 12 When..Cancer reddens with the Solar Blaze. 1782 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 72 158 He has frequently obseved ζ Cancri, the star near Procyon, and the star in Monoceros, without perceiving the small stars near them. 1800 J. Barrett Enq. Origins of Zodiac 4 The Signs limiting the Sun's excursions were called Cancer and Capricorn, from the nature of these animals. 1833 T. B. Macaulay Ess. (1854) I. 239/1 The American dependencies of the Castilian crown still extended far to the North of Cancer and far to the South of Capricorn. 1890 A. M. Clerke Syst. Stars ix. 139 The light-change of S. Cancri, the second of the Algol variables, was discovered by Mr. Hind in 1848. 1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) 12 The northern tropic was called the Tropic of Cancer, because when these ideas were first brought to light the solstitial point was observed to lie within the constellation of Cancer. 1968 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 78 363 The Aselli (Asses) are two naked-eye stars, δ and γ Cancri, which guard the ‘Manger’ to the east. 1982 C. Rose Astrol. Counselling v. 47 A client may have Jupiter in Cancer in the seventh house and be experiencing a period of inner questioning. 2003 Daily Tel. 31 Mar. 22/5 To the east of Cancer lies the large constellation of Leo the Lion, named after the First Labour of Hercules. c. Astrology. A person born under the zodiacal sign of Cancer. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [noun] > Cancer > person born under Cancerian1911 moon child1923 cancera1963 a1963 L. MacNeice Astrol. (1964) iii. 77 Many astrologers would advise a Pisces type to marry a Cancer but not a Virgo. 1970 L. Goodman Sun Signs 145 Cancer's heart is too soft not to be touched by someone's need. 1985 London Portrait Mag. Apr. 196/2 It would seem to tie in with Charles's chart that from August Cancer feels more secure, more nurtured and loved. 2005 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 12 Nov. a8/2 You may also like the subtle ways of Cancer, who alone seems to understand your Scorpio side. 2. Now Zoology. A crab. In later use (in form Cancer) chiefly as a scientific Latin genus name, originally used (by Linnaeus) to cover all crabs and lobsters but later restricted to a group of crabs exemplified by the edible crab, Cancer pagurus; a crab of this genus.Valid publication of the genus name: Linnaeus Systema Naturæ (ed. 10, 1758) I. 625.In early use often in extended metaphors in the context of disease. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) crabc1000 crab-fisha1400 cancer?a1425 partan1428 crayfish1509 canker1562 rock crab1736 fiery-tangs1813 cancroid1852 brachyuran1877 partan-crab1893 ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 87 (MED) It is rounde and putteþ oute veynez in þe circuite þat ar as feete of þe Cancer i. crabbe. 1597 P. Lowe Whole Course Chirurg. iv. xiii. sig. L3 The vlcered is immobill, hot by accident, hauing many veines about it, like the feete of Cancer. 1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 131 The like things are reported of the Aspes, Cancers, & Torteyses of Egypt. 1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. iii. 47 The slowest snaile makes more speed forth-right, then the swiftest retrograde Cancer. 1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 40 In some insects, it [sc. the mouth] is placed under the breast, as in the chermes, coccus, cancer, (crab) and curculio. 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. I i. 121 The anchor'd Pinna, and his Cancer-friend. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 126/2 It should be remembered that Mr. Milne-Edwards's genus Cancer (crabe) differs from that of Dr. Leach. 1924 Jrnl. Morphol. & Physiol. 39 47 In the present article various stages in the spermatogenesis of Cancer crabs..will be discussed from a comparative standpoint. 1953 P. M. Roedel Common Ocean Fishes Calif. Coast 31 The crabs, particularly the Cancers with their large, powerful chelae. 2006 F. J. Vega et al. Stud. Mexican Paleontol. v. 81 Decapod crustacean taxa that have very similar dorsal carapace morphologies throughout the genus such as in the genus Cancer. 3. a. Medicine. Originally: any of various types of non-healing sore or ulcer (cf. canker n. 1a). In later use (chiefly as mass noun): spec. malignant neoplastic disease, in which there is an uncontrolled proliferation of cells, typically with invasion and destruction of adjacent normal tissue, and often with metastatic spread to distant parts of the body via lymphatics or blood vessels; an instance of this, a malignant tumour. Frequently with distinguishing word, usually indicating the type or site of origin of the cancer.In technical contexts, sometimes used specifically for malignant neoplasms of epithelial origin (see carcinoma n. 1).breast, chimney-sweeper's, colloid, lung cancer, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [noun] > cancer cankereOE cancer1527 carcinoma1583 carcinomatosis1872 big C1959 scirrhus2003 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [noun] > tumour > malignant tumours cancer1527 carcinoma1583 crab1614 scirrhus1759 sarcoma1804 malignant melanoma1838 melanocarcinoma1857 adenosarcoma1871 adenocarcinoma1872 angiosarcoma1873 lymphosarcoma1874 mycosis fungoides1874 melanosarcoma1875 osteosarcoma1876 chondrosarcoma1883 psammosarcoma1886 trophoblast1889 liposarcoma1893 multiple myeloma1897 sarcoid1899 leiomyosarcoma1914 spongioblastoma1918 osteogenic sarcoma1923 sympathicoblastoma1927 reticulosarcoma1928 carcinoma in situ1932 malignancy1934 teratocarcinoma1946 sympathoblastoma1960 sympathogonioma1966 sympathicogonioma1974 1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon cxx. following sig. Hii/1 The Cancer [Ger. krebs] wasshed with the same and clowtes wet ther in layde ther vpon, cawseth them to hele. 1565 J. Hall tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. iii. ii. 33 Vnderstande that a Cancer is eyther vlcerate or not. 1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things x. 289 It heales and cures all Fystulaes, Cancers, Noli me tangere, the Kings Euyll, and euery other eating Sore. ?1587 A. Hunton tr. B. Textor Natures of Cancers 57 in J. Guillemeau Worthy Treat. Eyes (new ed.) Of vlcered cancers those onely are cut & seared, whiche are in the vppermost part of the body. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. Gloss. Cancer is a swelling or sore comming of melancholy bloud, about which the veins appeare of a blacke or swert colour, spread in manner of a Creifish clees. 1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ i. xlviii. 114 Καρκινος, Cancer is a hard round Tumour blew or blackish having pain and beating. 1747 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 254 On some a relentless cancer has fastened its envenomed teeth. 1768 G. White Let. 27 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 53 The wonderful method of curing cancers by means of toads. 1800 J. Chambers Pocket Herbal 286 A Bleeding Cancer was cured by drinking twice a day a quarter of a pint of the juice of Cleavers, or Goose-grass, and covering the wounds with the bruised leaves. 1821 E. C. Knight Jrnl. 21 June in C. Knight Autobiogr. (1861) II. vi. 123 The Duchess-Dowager of Orleans has been for several weeks in a sad state with a cancer. 1877 F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 274 Cancer is decidedly a hereditary disease. 1916 Science 14 Jan. 69/1 Cancer (both carcinoma and sarcoma) is due to errors in the mode of living, not only to an overindulgence in a meat diet. 1933 D. Thomas Let. Feb. (1987) 13 Telegrams, dying aunts, cancer, especially of such a private part of the womb, distraught mothers & unpremeditated train-journeys, come rarely. 1988 R. Shilts Band played On iv. xix. 185 The diagnosis was Burkitt's lymphoma, a lymph cancer that was among the first human cancers linked to a virus. 1991 R. Ferguson Henry Miller xiii. 290 His mother was about to undergo an operation for the removal of a cancer. 2004 F. Lawrence Not on Label vi. 207 Cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer now account for about 30 per cent of the burden of ill health. b. figurative and in figurative contexts. A malignant or destructive influence, likened to cancer in its tendency to spread, corrupt, and corrode, and its resistance to eradication. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > a harmful thing or person > thing > slow or stealthy apostemec1380 cankera1475 cankerworm1580 cancer1597 sap1748 tapeworm1824 1597 H. M. tr. J. Du Bec-Crispin Hist. Tamerlan 28 To haue so daungerous a Cancer within his realme [Fr. vn Cancer au dedans si dangereux], as was the reuolting of the people. 1651 R. Baxter Plain Script. Proof Infants Church-membership & Baptism 274 This Cancer is a fretting and growing evil. a1711 T. Ken Edmund vii, in Wks. (1721) II. 194 Sloth is a Cancer, eating up that Time Princes should cultivate for Things sublime. 1747 W. Major Retirement 10 Swoll'n Dropsy of the Mind, it taints the Whole; Corrosive Plague! the Cancer of the Soul! 1798 tr. T. Tasso Householder in Sel. from Most Celebrated Foreign Literary Jrnls. II. 456 Disorder is a sure demonstration, that there is a consuming cancer at the heart. 1832 Times 15 June 1/1 The Corn Law..that great plague spot, that cancer which eats into the vitals of the people. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues III. 74 The incurable cancer of the soul. a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1970) 146 The priestly purge of evil, Corroding cancer at the world's deep root. 1952 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N. Y.) 3 Sept. 2/4 We must cut out the cancer which eats away with the faith of our people in their government. 1992 R. Harris Fatherland ii. 57 She sat alone in that big house—it was cancer of the soul. 2003 Statesman (India) (Nexis) 14 Mar. The cancer of corruption which corrodes the moral fabric of every society. 4. In early use: †a plant used medicinally for the treatment of ulcers and cancers; cf. cancerwort n. at Compounds 4 and canker n. 8a (obsolete). In later use (Scottish): red campion, Silene dioica, believed to cause cancer (rare). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > unidentified types of plants sagittelc1400 bilgresa1475 cancer1546 alypum1597 nepenthe1605 heart a grasse1609 laskwort1647 the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caryophyllaceae (chickweeds and allies) > [noun] > campion and ragged robin cow-rattle14.. campion1576 behen1578 crowsoap1578 white campion1578 catchfly1597 feather-top wild campion1597 frothy poppy1597 lime-wort1597 nonsuch1597 sea campion1597 spattling poppy (also campion)1597 Greek rose1601 lychnis1601 knap-bottle1640 moss pink1641 Lobel's catchfly1664 red robin1678 moss campion1690 red campion1728 round robin1741 Silene1751 Nottingham catchfly1762 silenal1836 Robin Hood1844 thunder-flower1853 gunpowder weed1860 sea-catchfly1864 robin redbreast1880 poppy1886 thunderbolt1886 rattleweed1893 cancer1896 bladder-campion- 1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke i. xvii. f. xxxii.^v If he be stynged with a spider, he [sc. the Hart] healeth hym selfe with eatyng Pilles or a certain herbe named Cancer [L. cancros edendo sibi medentur]. 1896 Garden-work 4 Mar. 112/1 Lychnis dioica, in at least one part of Kirkcudbrightshire, is called 'Cancer,' and was believed to cause that terrible disease. †5. Medicine. An eight-tailed bandage (see quot. 1881). Also cancer bandage. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > bandage > [noun] > bandage of specific shape cancer1706 capeline1706 spica1731 abnet1797 cravat1836 four-tailed bandage1844 figure of eight bandage1871 1706 tr. L. Verduc Manner curing Fractures iii. 26 in tr. A. Belloste Hosp. Surgeon (ed. 2) I here propose to lop off a great many Bandages that are of no Use in Practice, such as the Rhombus, the Demi-Rhombus,..the Scafa, the Cancer [Fr. le cancer], the Bandage with Four Heads, or Six Heads, or Eight Heads, [etc.]. 1708 J. Moyle Chyrurg. Mem. 8 Then a folded Cloth was wrapped over it, and Cancer-bandage was made. 1881 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Cancer,..a term for an eight-tailed bandage; those resembling, it was thought, a crab's legs. B. adj. (attributive). Astrology. Born under the sign of Cancer; characteristic of a person born under this sign. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > particular signs > [adjective] crabbed1634 Aquarius1894 Aries1894 cancer1894 Capricorn1894 Gemini1894 Leo1894 libra1894 Virgo1894 Taurian1909 Cancerian1915 Arian1917 Piscean1924 Pisces1924 Sagittarian1924 scorpionic1924 Taurean1924 aquariana1963 1894 ‘E. Kirk’ Influence of Zodiac xvii. 145 The Cancer men are far more constant than the Cancer women. 1924 C. E. O. Carter Conc. Encycl. Psychol. Astrol. 142 Cancer and Pisces people are often retiring and shy among strangers. 1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 25 Feb. n18 These are Cancer traits, and your time of birth gives you a Cancer ascendant. 2000 B. Ashman Signmates ii. 231 The Cancer man is self-conscious about his sensitivity. Compounds (In sense A. 3a.) C1. a. attributive, with the sense ‘of, relating to, affected by, or caused by cancer’, as cancer death, cancer element, cancer prevention, cancer rate, cancer tissue, cancer victim, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are entered separately at Compounds 1b. ΚΠ 1848 W. H. Walshe in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. 136/1 Encephaloid stands apart from its co-species by containing true cancer-elements in greatest abundance. 1909 Chem. Abstr. 3 1766 Cancer tissue itself possesses no heterolytic properties. 1937 Life 16 Aug. 52/2 (caption) Worth $2,500, these 100 milligrams of radium..will go to a hospital to be used for arresting the reproduction of cells in cancer growths. 1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 102/1 Standardized mortality ratios..were computed to determine abnormally high or low cancer rates for each region. 1980 B. Van Der Horst in O. Davies Omni Bk. of Paranormal & Mind v. xxiv. 259 Marijuana has some use..as an analgesic for cancer victims. 1989 C. Caufield Multiple Exposures (1990) xxii. 232 X-rays..can reveal the early stages of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in American women. 2007 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Jan. 67/3 ‘Calorie restriction’ has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers..believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. b. cancer case n. ΚΠ 1817 Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. July 226/1 And I am sanguine in the belief, that if early and undeviating experiments of this kind be made, they will prove efficacious in most, if not all, cancer cases. 1868 Lancet 12 Dec. 780/2 The total number of cancer cases is so extremely small, that we are..dealing with exceedingly low fractions. 1958 A. Huxley Let. 2 Feb. (1969) 845 The administration of LSD to terminal cancer cases, in the hope that it would make dying a more spiritual, less strictly physiological process. cancer cell n. ΚΠ 1840 London Med. Gaz. 15 May 317/2 Like the germ of the ovum, every individual cancer-cell must be regarded as an organism endowed with vital power and capability of development. 1842 Lancet 21 May 268/2 Numbers of cancer-cells contain young cells within their cavity. 1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) i. 7 If the causal agent can be carried from place to place, as, for instance, bacteria or groups of cancer cells, it is evident that it may..settle down in distant regions of the body, setting up new foci of disease. 2006 Guardian 18 Apr. i. 5/5 The US scientists..are particularly excited because ginger seems to offer a two-pronged attack on cancer cells: it makes them commit suicide, known as apoptosis, and self-digest, known as autophagy. cancer patient n. ΚΠ 1835 G. Waite Gums 75 Numerous opportunities are open to every one of examining the cancer patients at the various hospitals of this metropolis. 1941 Amer. Jrnl. Hygiene 34 1 (title) Metachronous multiple malignancies in 5,876 cancer patients. 2001 J. Diamond C: Because Cowards get Cancer Too (new ed.) xii. 232 I wasn't a cancer patient with special rights, just another schlemiel who'd broken his toe. cancer phobia n. ΚΠ 1922 Lancet 16 Sept. 639/2 The medical man's fear is that, as a result of this species of anti-cancer propaganda, cancer-phobia, already a recognised human ailment, would become rife. 1980 R. Rosenbaum in New West Nov. 28/1 Who, today, does not suffer from some degree of cancerphobia? 2000 Guardian 27 May (Weekend Suppl.) 69/3 The trouble is, once you've had your cancerphobia, you can't delete it. cancer risk n. ΚΠ 1927 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Tribune 26 Aug. 1/2 (heading) Gas and oil industries bring new cancer risk, research workers find. 1974 Times 20 Sept. 3/7 There seems little doubt that this link between regular use of reserpine and an increased cancer risk is genuine. 2002 Independent 20 Apr. i. 9/1 The independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) said it could not rule out a cancer risk from a chemical called dichlorvos which all the products contain. C2. a. attributive, with the sense ‘relating to or concerned with the treatment and study of cancer’, as cancer centre, cancer charity, cancer chemotherapy, cancer researcher, cancer surgery, cancer therapy, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately at Compounds 2b. ΚΠ 1926 Lancet 25 Sept. 676/1 Dr. Gunsett, director of the cancer centre at Strasbourg. 1957 Listener 14 Nov. 780/1 The past ten years have seen a great deal of progress in the field of cancer chemotherapy. 1962 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. & Gynecol. 83 1189 (title) The concept of radicality in gynecologic cancer surgery. 1979 Nature 23 Aug. 638/1 Interferon is the great white hope of cancer therapy. 1991 Bicycle Guide Sept. 19/1 When this issue hits the stands, he'll have just finished the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge ride that benefits a local cancer charity. 1993 N.Y. Times 24 Oct. iii. 6/2 The Thompson family spent nearly $30 million on the cancer center. 2005 New Yorker 11 Apr. 47/3 Cancer researchers talk about gene-environment interactions—some smokers develop lung cancer, while others can smoke without becoming sick. b. cancer cure n. ΚΠ 1857 Lancet 4 Apr. 358/2 We applauded the authorities at the Middlesex for taking the reputed ‘cancer cure’ up. 1972 T. P. McMahon Issue of Bishop's Blood (1973) i. 15 The pathetic thousands who trek endlessly after the Pied Pipers of the cancer cures. 2005 Canad. Geographic May 106/2 A down payment on royalties, should they ever come, from the asthma medicine or the cancer cure that might be derived from the sponges of Bagabag. cancer drug n. ΚΠ 1936 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 18 Dec. a11/2 (heading) Human hair, chop suey sauce make cancer drug. 1987 Los Angeles Times 8 Nov. iv. 13/1 Agouron has concentrated its research on a handful of therapeutic drugs, including anti-viral and cancer drugs. 2006 Daily Tel. 13 Apr. 2/5 There are around 30 cancer drugs going through the later stages of clinical trials that could boost survival rates. cancer hospital n. ΚΠ 1809 R. Carmichael Ess. Effects Carbonate upon Cancer (ed. 2) vi. 393 But these and other difficulties will, I hope, not long maintain their ground, if the design of a few benevolent and active individuals is accomplished of establishing a Cancer Hospital in this City. 1883 Musical Times Nov. 615/2 Fruit and flowers, which after adorning the sanctuary were destined for distribution among the patients of the Cancer Hospital, Brompton. 1977 S. Sontag Illness as Metaphor i. 8 The country's largest cancer hospital mails routine communications and bills to outpatients in envelopes that do not reveal the sender. 2002 H. Habila Waiting for Angel (2003) 100 Do you know how much it costs to keep my mother here a day? Twenty thousand naira. This is the best cancer hospital in the country. cancer research n. ΚΠ 1899 Lancet 9 Dec. 1601/2 A ‘director of the cancer research laboratories’. 1951 E. B. White in New Yorker 10 Nov. 29/2 Virus diseases are now the white hope of cancer research. 2004 National Post (Canada) 17 May a11/4 The case revolved around a genetically engineered ‘oncomouse’ used in cancer research. cancer specialist n. ΚΠ 1879 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 21 Apr. The noted cancer specialist..has served one term in prison for counterfeiting. 1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 29 July 257/2 A cancer specialist who serves as a consultant to the local doctors. 2000 N.Y. Times 8 Aug. f8/3 After the operation, Jonah consulted a cancer specialist. cancer treatment n. ΚΠ 1868 Decatur (Illinois) Republican 31 Dec. 1/6 (advt.) I will forfeit One Thousand Dollars if my Cancer Treatment is not the Safest and Most Effectual of any that is used in the States. 1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 391 Additions to the powerful equipment for cancer treatment..included a cobalt 60 therapy unit producing X-rays of 3 million electron volts. 2002 Skeptical Inquirer Mar.–Apr. 16/2 Although laetrile remained outlawed in the U.S., Rep. Burton has continued to support other dangerous and absurd cancer treatments. cancer ward n. ΚΠ 1799 Med. Diary 19/2 J. Howard, Esq. Surgeon Ex. to the Cancer Ward, Argyle street. 1860 J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. (ed. 2) 512 I have derived about 50 [cases] from the records of the Cancer-wards in the Middlesex Hospital. 1999 C. Creedon Passion Play v. 29 There he was, in the hall outside the cancer ward, freezing me out. C3. Objective. cancer-causing adj. ΚΠ 1914 Indianapolis Star 6 May 8/6 The cancer-causing, tuberculosis-spreading, and diphtheria-inciting custom of uncut finger nails. 1986 J. Batten Judges 152 The trouble with the wines seemed to be a potentially cancer-causing ingredient called ethyl carbamate. 2005 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 21 Jan. a4/5 The cancer-triggering gene apparently instigates the misbehavior of other cancer-causing genes, leading to tumor formation. cancer-producing adj. ΚΠ 1879 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Rev. 3 Sept. Tomatoes contain neither cancer nor cancer-producing matter. 1954 Sci. News 31 81 In respect of their cancer-producing properties these compounds resemble the older carcinogenic hydrocarbons. 1991 K. Dalton Once a Month (ed. 5) xxi. 202 These included stilboestrol, dioenoestrol and hexoestradiol, which have been shown to have some cancer-producing potential and are never used for oral administration today. C4. cancer bush n. [after Afrikaans kankerbos (earlier in South African Dutch as kankerbosch)] South African any of several plants of the South African genus Sutherlandia (family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae)), purported to have beneficial effects for cancer sufferers; esp. S. frutescens, now also used to treat HIV and AIDS. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > other non-British medicinal trees or shrubs snake-wood1598 velvet-leaf1707 macary bittera1726 majoa1726 ahuehuete1778 cucumber-tree1784 bilimbi1790 rohuna1829 chaulmoogra1832 juriballi1834 horse-cassia1864 yaw-weed1864 cundurango1871 Chile senna1874 cancer bush1888 quinine tree1905 kankerbos1913 hydnocarpus1928 1888 A. Smith Contrib. to Materia Medica 95 Sutherlandia frutescens..Cancer bush. This shrub has been brought forward recently as a remedy for cancer. 1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo xvii. 277 The early settlers..used..the pretty little Sutherlandia humilis—the cancer bush—not only for cancer but for flu. 2005 M.-W. Ho et al. Unraveling AIDS xx. 148 ‘Cancer bush’..is another name given to Sutherlandia by Afrikaners that attests to its traditional use as a cancer remedy. cancer cluster n. a series or group of cases of cancer, esp. a particular type of cancer, occurring in close proximity (either geographically or chronologically). ΚΠ 1968 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 4 Aug. a12/7 Cancer clusters occur only now and then. 2004 S. H. Jenkins How Sci. Works 203 There are many reasons that apparent cancer clusters..are rarely conclusively tied to specific environmental causes. cancer doctor n. (originally) a person offering purported cancer cures; (later) a doctor specializing in the treatment of cancer, an oncologist. ΚΠ 1719 D. Turner De Morbis Cutaneis i. viii. 76 A villainous Empiric (a famous Cancer Doctor). 1774 L. Carter Diary (1965) II. 914 The Cancer doctor had given him over. 1881 Lancet 15 Oct. 657/2 There are consumption-doctors, cancer-doctors, gout-doctors, and the like. 1934 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 24 322 Cancer paste was used several weeks ago by a cancer doctor. 2001 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant (New Haven County/Shoreline ed.) 2 Oct. d3/3 There has not yet been a clinical trial proving that liver zapping extends life for five years or more—considered the gold standard for cancer doctors. cancer doctress n. now historical a female cancer doctor. ΚΠ 1768 G. White Let. 27 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 54 This woman..having set up for a cancer-doctress. 1887 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Republican 22 Apr. 3/4 Mrs. Dr. Martin, the cancer doctress, is in town. 1911 Folk-lore 22 306 He considered the ‘cancer doctress’ a fraud. 1999 Jrnl. Social Hist. Spring 757 The single ‘cancer doctress’ turns out to have been residing in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1790s. cancer gene n. a gene which predisposes the subject to a form of cancer; an oncogene. ΚΠ 1950 Austin (Texas) Statesman 5 Apr. 5/4 (heading) Evidence by Stanford pair aids cancer-gene theory. 1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. (1994) vii. iv. 278/1 In the cancer-associated or activated form, these genes are termed oncogenes (cancer genes), but when fulfilling their normal cellular role they are called proto-oncogenes. 2005 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Dec. 56/2 Twenty years ago we didn't know what human cancer genes were. cancer herb n. chiefly U.S. the plant Acalypha arvensis (family Euphorbiaceae), used in the treatment of ulcers. ΚΠ 1974 M. Simmons Witchcraft in Southwest x. 148 A healer was called in just in time to save the afflicted man and she dosed him with an elixir composed of cancer herb, Gonzalez herb, and guayuli. 2002 J. A. Duke et al. Handbk. Medicinal Herbs (ed. 2) 145 Cancer Herb (Acalypha arvensis Poepp. & Endl.). cancer serum n. (a) fluid surrounding cancer cells; (b) antiserum to cancer cells; (c) the serum of a cancer patient. ΚΠ 1853 J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. II. 374 The liquid (cancer-serum, as it has been named) is turbid. 1876 J. Van Duyn & E. C. Seguin tr. E. L. Wagner Man. Gen. Pathol. 479 Cancer-juice consists of cancer-cells and a usually scanty, fluid substance, the intercellular substance or cancer-serum. 1908 Lancet 31 Oct. 1300/2 The tumours treated with cancer serum dried up. 2003 Clin. Chem. 49 253 BPSA [= benign prostate-specific antigen] in a cohort of cancer serum also comprised 25% of the free PSA. cancer stick n. humorous or colloquial a cigarette. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette cigarito1832 paper cigar1833 cigarette1842 papelito1845 coffin-nailc1865 fag1885 butt1893 pill1901 scag1915 nail1925 quirly1932 tab1934 burn1941 draw1946 tube1946 snout1950 cancer stick1958 straight1959 ciggy1962 square1970 bifter1989 lung dart1990 dart2000 1958 J. Davis College Vocab. 13 Cancer stick, cigarette. 1959 J. Braine Vodi xxii. 242 There was a packet of cigarettes on the locker. She took one out and lit it. ‘First cancer stick today,’ she said. 1967 New Statesman 20 Jan. 77/2 To be able to..tempt fate by a debonair pull on a cancer stick is a way of asserting the individual's right to choose his own end. 1987 St Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 19 Sept. 12 a Cigarette manufacturers keep on pushing their cancer sticks while denying scientific evidence that smoking..kills. 2006 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 21 Feb. 14 As an ex-smoker, I know what these cancer sticks can do to one's health. cancerwort n. [compare cankerwort n. at canker n. Compounds 2] any of various medicinal plants of (or formerly of) the family Scrophulariaceae, esp. speedwell (genus Veronica), and certain kinds of toadflax of the genus Kickxia (formerly included in Linaria). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Scrophulariaceae (figwort and allies) > [noun] > toadflax or cancer-wort wild flaxa1400 cankerwortc1400 sulfc1450 linary1548 gall-wort1577 herb fluellin1578 toad-flax1578 cancerwort1597 flax-weed1597 linaria1597 butter and eggs1756 fluellin1756 1597 J. Gerard Herball Table Eng. Names Cancerwoort, that is Fluellen. 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Cancer-wort, Linaria spuria and L. Elatine; also an old name for the genus Veronica. 1935 Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 22 639 Linaria spuria (L.) Mill. Cancerwort. 2001 T. S. Cooperrider et al. Seventh Catal. Vascular Plants Ohio 62 Kickxia elatine (L.) Dumort. Sharp-pointed Cancerwort. Kickxia spuria (L.) Dumort. Round-leaved Cancerwort. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022). cancerv. Brit. /ˈkansə/, U.S. /ˈkænsər/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: cancer n. Etymology: < cancer n. Compare earlier canker v. Compare also earlier cancered adj. transitive. To infect and corrode (a person, thing, etc.) through the introduction of a malignant or destructive influence. Also (occasionally): to eat (its way) slowly and incessantly like a cancer. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > corrode or erode forfret?c1225 fret?c1225 gnaw1530 to eat awaya1538 eat1555 arrode1575 corrode1594 out-eatc1595 eat1609 erode1612 to eat out1616 bite1623 etch1664 exede1669 cancer1824 to eat in- 1824 W. Cobbett Weekly Reg. 14 Feb. 447 A strong apprehension that the bines have suffered severely, many dead hills and others cancered at the crown. 1839 T. De Quincey Dinner in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 829/2 Other things advance per saltum—they do not silently cancer their way onwards. 1853 T. De Quincey Autobiogr. Sketches in Select. Grave & Gay I. 95 The strulbrug of Swift..was a wreck, a shell, that had been burned hollow, and cancered by the fierce furnace of life. 1889 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 609 The period of the Restoration..was cancered to the core with licentiousness. 1910 M. J. Cawein Shadow Garden i. 111 Here is blistering ivy, whose mere touch Cancers the flesh. 1951 W. Lewis Rotting Hill Envoi 305 Millions of Englishmen will be cancered or starved. 1990 B. Kennelly Time for Voices 160 That June afternoon When you had to clamp your mouth against the flies Cancering the air. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.adj.c1392v.1824
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cancern.adj.

Compounds

cancerv.