Glossary
Pathologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential pathologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key pathologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in pathologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Autopsy
- Examination after death.
- Biopsy
- A tissue sample.
- Blood bank
- Lab managing transfusions.
- CAP
- College of American Pathologists.
- Cytology
- Study of individual cells.
- Digital pathology
- Scanned slides read on screens.
- Frozen section
- Rapid tissue diagnosis during surgery.
- Grade
- How abnormal cancer cells look.
- H&E stain
- The standard tissue stain.
- Histology
- Study of tissue.
- Immunohistochemistry
- Stains that detect proteins.
- Margin
- The edge of removed tissue.
- Molecular pathology
- Genetic testing of disease.
- Stage
- How far cancer has spread.
- Tumor board
- Meeting to plan cancer care.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Pathologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Pathologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.