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Cancer

//ˈkænsə// adj, name, noun, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Extremely unpleasant and annoying. slang

    "I used to love this game, but the new meta is straight up cancer."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A constellation of the zodiac traditionally figured in the shape of a crab.

    "And add more coals to Cancer when he burns / With entertaining great Hyperion."

  2. 2
    The zodiac sign for the crab, ruled by the Moon and covering June 22–July 22 (tropical astrology) or July 16–August 15 (sidereal astrology).
Noun
  1. 1
    A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation. countable, uncountable

    "If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the[…]hazards of gasoline cars: air and water pollution, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates."

  2. 2
    Someone with a Cancer star sign.

    "‘All right, so what are Cancers apart from sad, then?’ Lizzie asked."

  3. 3
    (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer wordnet
  4. 4
    Something damaging that spreads throughout something else. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "The disease of the self runs through my blood; It's a cancer fatal to my soul."

  5. 5
    any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division; it may spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system or the blood stream wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”) (possibly cognate), applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”) (possibly cognate), applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.

Etymology 3

Learned borrowing from Latin cancer (“crab”), calque of Ancient Greek Καρκίνος (Karkínos, “crab”), calque of Akkadian 𒀀𒇻𒌅 (allutu, “crab”), from Sumerian 𒀯𒀠𒈜 (ᵐᵘˡAL.LUL, “crab; name of constellation”).

Etymology 4

Learned borrowing from Latin cancer (“crab”), calque of Ancient Greek Καρκίνος (Karkínos, “crab”), calque of Akkadian 𒀀𒇻𒌅 (allutu, “crab”), from Sumerian 𒀯𒀠𒈜 (ᵐᵘˡAL.LUL, “crab; name of constellation”).

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