cancer Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun 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
    malignant neoplastic disease.
  2. noun (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer
    Crab.
  3. noun a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini
  4. noun the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22
    Cancer the Crab; Crab.
  5. noun type genus of the family Cancridae
    genus Cancer.

WordNet

Can"cer noun
Etymology
L. cancer, cancri, crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac; akin to Gr. , Skr. karkaa crab, and prob. Skr. karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard shell. Cf. Canner, Chancre.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America, as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab.
  2. (Astron.) (a) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The first point is the northern limit of the sun's course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See Tropic. (b) A northern constellation between Gemini and Leo.
  3. (Med.) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab. The term it now restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in the meshes of a trabecular framework. ✍ Four kinds of cancers are recognized: (1) Epithelial cancer, or Epithelioma, in which there is no trabecular framework. See Epithelioma. (2) Scirrhous cancer, or Hard cancer, in which the framework predominates, and the tumor is of hard consistence and slow growth. (3) Encephaloid, Medullary, or Soft cancer, in which the cellular element predominates, and the tumor is soft, grows rapidy, and often ulcerates. (4) Colloid cancer, in which the cancerous structure becomes gelatinous. The last three varieties are also called carcinoma.

Webster 1913