immunity
Americannoun
-
immunities
plural
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the state of being immune from or insusceptible to a particular disease or the like.
- Antonyms:
- susceptibility
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the condition that permits either natural or acquired resistance to disease.
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the ability of a cell to react immunologically in the presence of an antigen.
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exemption from any natural or usual liability.
- Antonyms:
- liability
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exemption from obligation, service, duty, or liability to taxation, jurisdiction, etc..
The ambassador claimed diplomatic immunity when they arrested him for reckless driving.
- Synonyms:
- prerogative, liberty, license, franchise
- Antonyms:
- liability
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Law. exemption from criminal prosecution or legal liability or punishment on certain conditions.
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special privilege.
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Ecclesiastical.
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the exemption of ecclesiastical persons and things from secular or civil liabilities, duties, and burdens.
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a particular exemption of this kind.
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noun
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the ability of an organism to resist disease, either through the activities of specialized blood cells or antibodies produced by them in response to natural exposure or inoculation ( active immunity ) or by the injection of antiserum or the transfer of antibodies from a mother to her baby via the placenta or breast milk ( passive immunity ) See also acquired immunity natural immunity
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freedom from obligation or duty, esp exemption from tax, duty, legal liability, etc
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any special privilege granting immunity
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the exemption of ecclesiastical persons or property from various civil obligations or liabilities
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The protection of the body from a disease caused by an infectious agent, such as a bacterium or virus. Immunity may be natural (that is, inherited) or acquired.
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See also acquired immunity
Synonym Usage
See exemption.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of immunity
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French immunite, from Latin immūnitāt-, stem of immūnitās “freedom or exemption from public charges or burdens.” See immune, -ity
Explanation
Immunity means exemption or resistance. If you're protected against something, you have immunity to it. Your new silver clothes just might grant you immunity from getting thrown in jail by the fashion police. In the late 14th century, the noun immunity, which means “exempt from service or obligation,” developed from the Latin immunitatem, which has nearly identical meaning. Break that word down even further, and you get immunis, meaning “exempt, free,” from in "not" and munis, meaning “performing services.” In a medical sense, immunity is “protection from disease.” Your annual flu shot tries to give you immunity from, or make you insusceptible to, the illness.
Vocabulary lists containing immunity
The Constitution of the United States
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"On Women's Right to Vote" by Susan B. Anthony
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Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
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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.
See Examples For:
"This is the first time we have shown that these differences occur at the genetic control level, providing a new layer of insight into human immunity," Dr. Ballouz says.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
If upheld, the immunity would eliminate a pending tax liability estimated at $100 million.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Cassidy noted that immunity can decline during pregnancy, making community vaccination particularly important for protecting pregnant women.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The bacteria is linked to sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and people with weakened immunity.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Some of the arriving scythes gave obligatory waves, others played to the crowd, kissing babies and randomly granting immunity.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
"We call on the de facto authorities to ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the UN and its officials."
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He celebrated the “government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance—but generously affording to all Liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Ecuador’s presidency on Friday night also alleged that Mexico’s government had “abused immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission” and granted “diplomatic asylum contrary to the conventional legal framework.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
"Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time," Judge Chutkan wrote late on Friday.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2023
Or if one wished to think biologically rather than architecturally, the body politic had yet to develop its immunities to the political diseases afflicting all new nations.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
