Teratoma
//tɛɹəˈtəʊmə// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A benign or malignant tumour, especially of the gonads, that arises from germ cells and consists of different types of tissue such as skin, hair, or muscle.
"‘What is a teratoma?’ asked Jack, holding the object in his hand. ‘A kind of grenado?’ ‘It is an inward wen, a tumour: we find them, occasionally, in the abdominal cavity. Sometimes they contain long black hair, sometimes a set of teeth: this has both hair and teeth.’"
- 2 a tumor consisting of a mixture of tissues not normally found at that site wordnet
Example
More examples"‘What is a teratoma?’ asked Jack, holding the object in his hand. ‘A kind of grenado?’ ‘It is an inward wen, a tumour: we find them, occasionally, in the abdominal cavity. Sometimes they contain long black hair, sometimes a set of teeth: this has both hair and teeth.’"
Etymology
From German Teratom; equivalent to terato- + -oma.
Related phrases
More for "teratoma"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.