adjuvant

[ aj-uh-vuhnt ]

/ ˈædʒ ə vənt /

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See synonyms for: adjuvant / adjuvants on Thesaurus.com

adjective

serving to help or assist; auxiliary: You'll be serving in an adjuvant capacity, on call if we need you.

Medicine/Medical. utilizing drugs, radiation therapy, or other means of supplemental treatment following cancer surgery or other primary cancer treatment: The cancer was caught at such an early stage that adjuvant measures were determined to be unnecessary.Compare neoadjuvant.

noun

a person or thing that aids or helps: a team of adjuvants.

Medicine/Medical, Pharmacology. anything that aids in the treatment of disease, management of pain, etc., especially a substance added to a medication to aid the effect of the main ingredient: For some in acute pain, caffeine is an effective analgesic adjuvant.

Immunology. a substance admixed with an immunogen in order to elicit a more marked immune response: Aluminum salts have been used as adjuvants in vaccines for many decades.

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Origin of adjuvant

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin adjuvant- (stem of adjuvāns, adjective use of present participle of adjuvāre ), equivalent to prefix ad- + juv- (stem of juvāre “to help”) + -ant; cf. ad-, aid, -ant

Words nearby adjuvant

adjutancy, adjutant, adjutant bird, adjutant general, adjutant stork, adjuvant, ad kalendas Graecas, ADL, Adlai, adland, Adler

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use adjuvant in a sentence

Other vaccines, for example protein subunit types, make use of an adjuvant, which is a substance that jumpstarts the immune system.
How does an mRNA vaccine work?|Maddie Bender|January 19, 2021|Popular-Science
A third, from Novavax, injects a lab-made version of a coronavirus protein along with an adjuvant to stimulate the immune system.
Does it matter which COVID-19 vaccine you get?|Maddie Bender|January 7, 2021|Popular-Science
It includes an inactivated form of the virus and an adjuvant.
Here’s where all the COVID-19 vaccine candidates currently stand|Kate Baggaley|December 18, 2020|Popular-Science
It’s formulated from adjuvants and proteins produced in the leaves of a plant related to tobacco that have had viral genes introduced into them.
Here’s where all the COVID-19 vaccine candidates currently stand|Kate Baggaley|December 18, 2020|Popular-Science

It does not contain many ingredients commonly found in other vaccines, such as preservatives or adjuvants, which are used to make vaccines work better — and is not manufactured in human or animal cells.
FDA vows to move 'rapidly’ to authorize second coronavirus vaccine|Laurie McGinley, Carolyn Y. Johnson|December 18, 2020|Washington Post
Fresh air is the most important adjuvant for this that we have.
Health Through Will Power|James J. Walsh
In certain minor affections of a spasmodic character it, therefore, forms a valuable adjuvant to other remedies.
Insomnia; and Other Disorders of Sleep|Henry M. Lyman
It is claimed to be a reconstructive tonic and blood-making adjuvant, with favorable action in affections of the glandular system.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2|Various
There is no scientific evidence that it has any value either alone or as an adjuvant to sandal oil.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2|Various
How the use of yeast as an adjuvant to otherwise inadequate food mixtures exerts its beneficial effect is not yet made clear.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for adjuvant

adjuvant

/ (ˈædʒəvənt) /

adjective

aiding or assisting

noun

something that aids or assists; auxiliary

med a drug or other substance that enhances the activity of another

immunol a substance that enhances the immune response stimulated by an antigen when injected with the antigen

Word Origin for adjuvant

C17: from Latin adjuvāns, present participle of adjuvāre, from juvāre to help

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjuvant

Origin of adjuvant

Words nearby adjuvant

Words related to adjuvant

How to use adjuvant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for adjuvant

Word Origin for adjuvant