autoimmune
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of autoimmune
Explanation
When a condition or illness is described as autoimmune, it means the body's immune system is attacking the body's own cells or tissues. Lupus is one example of an autoimmune disease. Your immune system sends out antibodies to attack bacteria and viruses that shouldn't be in your body. When this system mistakenly attacks substances that are meant to be in your body, it can cause all kinds of problems — this is an autoimmune disorder. Autoimmune is a medical term that's been around since the 1950s, from auto-, "self," and immune, "exempt from a disease."
Vocabulary lists containing autoimmune
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: auto-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: auto
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the same time, it suppressed the development of CD4⁺ T cells into Th17 cells, a type of immune cell associated with autoimmune inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system and can result in progressive physical and cognitive decline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Doctors then looked into her case further and concluded she in fact did not have the autoimmune disease, which can cause muscle stiffness and problems with walking and talking.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Despite the underwhelming data, the approval has given companies more confidence as they go after more ambitious targets in cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative spaces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
He did find that some people had skin cells that changed color spontaneously, but those were an indication of illness, or conditions like vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder where healthy melanin cells die or stop working.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
