Căn'cer or Cancer-cell, n.
n. [Lat. cancer, crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac, allied to Gr. καρκίνος; A-S. cancer, cancere, cancre, Fr. cancre. See CANKER.]
Sense 1. (Nat. Hist.) A decapodous animal, of the class Crustacea; the crab. See CRAB.
Sense 2. (Astron.) One of the twelve signs of the zodiac, somewhat resembling a crab in form, and denoting the northern limit of the sun’s course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice.
Sense 3. (Med) A malignant growth, which, by its uninterrupted progress, or its return after extirpation, destroys life; especially, a livid, schirrous tumor, intersected by firm, whitish, divergent bands, usually terminating in an ulcer, attended with acute pain, and very rarely cured. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab.
Cancer-cell, a cell characterized by its large nucleus, bright nucleolus, and the irregular form of the cell itself; — found in many malignant tumors.
