autoimmune
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- autoimmunity noun
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.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that affects more than 130,000 Australians.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
Key to J&J’s future is Tremfya, an IL-23 inhibitor used to treat several autoimmune conditions, such as plaque psoriasis.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
Notably, six of those 19 deals came from just two companies: Gilead Sciences and Eli Lilly, spanning cancer, autoimmune diseases and sleep disorders.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
Gilead Sciences will acquire Ouro Medicines for $2.18 billion to bolster its autoimmune drug portfolio.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
“I don’t know. It just happens to some people. That’s the way autoimmune diseases are.”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Definitions 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.
