Patologiche

Patologiche is the feminine plural form of the Italian adjective patologico. It is used to describe features, conditions, or phenomena related to pathology, disease, or abnormality, and can also convey a figurative sense of deviance or dysfunction in non-medical contexts.

Etymology and scope: the term derives from patologia, the study of diseases, from Greek pathos meaning suffering and -logia meaning study. In medical usage, patologico describes findings associated with disease processes, while in broader language it can denote abnormal or deviant conditions or behaviors.

Grammatical usage and examples: patologiche agrees with feminine plural nouns. For example, lesioni patologiche (pathological lesions), condizioni patologiche (pathological conditions), anomalie patologiche (pathological anomalies), abitudini patologiche (pathological habits). In phrases referring to behaviors or traits, the same agreement applies when the noun is feminine, e.g., tendenze patologiche. It is common to contrast with patologico/patologici, which agree with masculine nouns, such as processi patologici.

Context and nuance: outside strictly medical contexts, patologiche can describe conditions or patterns deemed abnormally persistent or unhealthy, such as dipendenze patologiche (pathological dependencies) or comportamenti patologici (pathological behaviors). The term should be interpreted based on the noun it modifies and the clinical or figurative sense intended.

See also: pathologia, patologia, patologico, patologizzazione.