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

See more on: American Cancer Society The Fight Against Breast Cancer Women going in for routine mammograms are increasingly being screened with a new 3-D imaging tool. —Nina Agrawal, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025

Fishel's cancer was discovered during a routine mammogram last year. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 2025

Those women are urged to get annual mammograms and breast MRIs starting at age 30. —Vanessa Etienne, People.com, 10 Jan. 2025

Already in 2020, AI models could detect breast cancer in mammograms more accurately than human radiologists in certain conditions. —Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 15 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