immunology
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of immunology
Explanation
Immunology is the science of body systems that protect against infection. It's thanks to immunology that we're able to treat and prevent so many diseases today. Immunology is formed by adding the suffix -ology, or "science," to immune, or "exempt from a disease." Scientists and doctors who specialize in immunology study the way our immune systems function (and sometimes malfunction) as they work to defend us from viruses and bacteria. Immunologists are also instrumental in creating vaccines against new diseases and promising treatments like cancer immunotherapy, which boost the patient's own immune system.
Vocabulary lists containing immunology
Microbiology - High School
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Microbiology - Middle School
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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.
If approved, half of the funding would go toward the creation of a new immunology and immunotherapy research institute affiliated with the University of California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
AbbVie itself believes the deal complements its existing immunology portfolio and accelerates its “clinical presence in the respiratory space.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
AbbVie has agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics for about $10.9 billion in cash in a deal that bolsters the biopharmaceutical company’s immunology and inflammation portfolio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
"Our work, if further validated, will have implications for T cell-mediated immune responses beyond cancer and transplant immunology," Reddy said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
The problem of olfactory sensing shares some of the current puzzles and confusions of immunology, apart from the business of telling self from non-self.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
