endotoxin

[ en-doh-tok-sin ]

/ ˌɛn doʊˈtɒk sɪn /

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noun Biochemistry.

the toxic protoplasm liberated when a microorganism dies and disintegrates, as in Eberthella typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever.

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Compare exotoxin.

Origin of endotoxin

First recorded in 1900–05; endo- + toxin

OTHER WORDS FROM endotoxin

en·do·tox·ic, adjective

Words nearby endotoxin

endothermic, endothoracic fascia, endothrix, endotoxemia, endotoxicosis, endotoxin, endotracheal, endotracheal anaesthesia, endotracheal intubation, endotracheal tube, endotrachelitis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use endotoxin in a sentence

Study subjects injected with the endotoxin were given T-shirts to wear over a few hours to capture their body odor.
What Your Body Odor Says About You|Sarah Everts|July 21, 2021|Time
Because the endotoxin wasn’t actually attached to a pathogen, the study subjects’ immune systems eventually settled down.
What Your Body Odor Says About You|Sarah Everts|July 21, 2021|Time

British Dictionary definitions for endotoxin

endotoxin

/ (ˌɛndəʊˈtɒksɪn) /

noun

a toxin contained within the protoplasm of an organism, esp a bacterium, and liberated only at death

Derived forms of endotoxin

endotoxic, adjective

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

Medical definitions for endotoxin

endotoxin

[ ĕn′dō-tŏk′sən ]

A toxin that forms an integral part of the cell wall of certain bacteria and is only released upon destruction of the bacterial cell. Endotoxins are less potent and less specific than most exotoxins and do not form toxoids.intracellular toxin

Other words from endotoxin

en′do•tox′ic adj.