mammogram

noun

mam·​mo·​gram ˈma-mə-ˌgram 

: a photograph of the breasts made by X-rays

also : the procedure for producing a mammogram

Examples of mammogram in a Sentence

She went to the hospital for her yearly mammogram.

Recent Examples on the Web

The participants who did not undergo surgery were actively monitored for invasive cancer with routine mammograms conducted every six months on the breast where DCIS was detected and every 12 months on the unaffected breast. —Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 12 Dec. 2024

Increasing screening rates, expanding healthcare access, and ensuring follow-up care after abnormal mammograms could make a difference. —Liz Neporent, ABC News, 10 Dec. 2024

Previously, breast cancer screening guidelines were largely standardized, with routine mammograms recommended starting at age 50 for most women. —Sandra Rose Salathe, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2024

For younger women, breast cancer is diagnosed in later stages because it is often discovered by the woman or her partner feeling a lump instead of by mammogram. —Nicole Villalpando, Austin American-Statesman, 4 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin mamma "breast" + -o- + -gram — more at mamma entry 1

Note: The terms mammogram and mammography were introduced by the American physician and surgeon Nymphus Frederick Hicken (1900-98) in "Mammography: roentgenologic diagnosis of breast tumors by means of contrast media," Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, vol. 64 (1937), pp. 593-603.

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

mammogram

noun

mam·​mo·​gram ˈmam-ə-ˌgram 

1

: a photograph of the breasts made by X-rays

2

: the procedure for producing a mammogram