lymphocyte

American  

[lim-fuh-sahyt] / ˈlɪm fəˌsaɪt /

noun

Anatomy.

• lymphocytes
  plural

1. a type of white blood cell having a large, spherical nucleus surrounded by a thin layer of nongranular cytoplasm.

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lymphocyte British  

/ ˈlɪmfəʊˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a type of white blood cell formed in lymphoid tissue See also B-lymphocyte T-lymphocyte

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lymphocyte Scientific  

/ lĭm′fə-sīt′ /

1. Any of various white blood cells, including B cells and T cells, that function in the body's immune system by recognizing and deactivating specific foreign substances called antigens. B cells act by stimulating the production of antibodies. T cells contain receptors on their cell surfaces that are capable of recognizing and binding to specific antigens. Lymphocytes are found in the lymph nodes and spleen and circulate continuously in the blood and lymph.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lymphocytic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lymphocytes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lymphocyte

First recorded in 1885–90; lympho- + -cyte

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Compare meaning

How does lymphocyte compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• lymphoblast vs. lymphocyte
• plasma cell vs. lymphocyte

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lymphocyte lymphocytes

"If we can figure out how to direct this new lymphocyte population to differentiate into a protective effector cell, it could help the host get rid of the Leishmania parasite."

From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024

The virus itself enters a key cell that’s important in defending your body from outside pathogens, and that cell is the lymphocyte.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 27, 2023

Physicians will routinely look to measures like a patient’s age, lymphocyte count and white blood cell count to gauge how sick he or she may be.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2020

Telomere fluorescence measurements in granulocytes and T lymphocyte subsets point to a high turnover of hematopoietic stem cells and memory T cells in early childhood.

From Nature ● Jan. 23, 2018

When the connection is made, and a particular lymphocyte with a particular receptor is brought into the presence of the particular antigen, one of the greatest small spectacles in nature occurs.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Mantle cell lymphoma is rare and affects white blood cells called B lymphocytes.

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026

They discovered that SFRP2 appeared not only in cancer cells but also in nearby immune cells, including tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and macrophages.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

TLSs are clusters of lymphocytes that appear in areas of chronic inflammation, including immune-hot tumors.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025

Measles destroys lymphocytes that defend against other bugs to make way for ones that defend against measles, an immunity won at the cost of other protections.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025

The amebocytes of starfish were recently found to contain a material that immobilizes the macrophages of mammals, resembling a product of immune lymphocytes in higher forms.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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