pathy

Pathy is a suffix in medical terminology used to denote a disease, disorder, or pathological condition affecting a specific organ or tissue. It is derived from the Greek pathos meaning suffering or disease and is attached to a combining form naming the affected part. Examples include neuropathy (nerve disease), nephropathy (kidney disease), dermatopathy (skin disease), cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), and myopathy (muscle disease). The related field term pathology refers to the study of disease, while pathogenesis describes how a disease develops.

In usage, -pathy often implies a chronic or structural disorder, but the precise meaning varies by term. Some -pathy names indicate a specific disease of an organ, others describe a broader dysfunction or pattern of pathology. The suffix is productive across many organ systems and is common in clinical, research, and veterinary terminology.

Beyond medicine, the sequence -pathy appears in words such as sympathy, empathy, and apathy that come from pathos meaning feeling rather than disease; they are etymologically related but used in nonclinical senses. In summary, -pathy signals disease or dysfunction in a body part, with meaning that depends on the term and context.