lymphocyte

American  

[lim-fuh-sahyt] / ˈlɪm fəˌsaɪt /

noun

Anatomy.

lymphocytes plural

1. a type of white blood cell having a large, spherical nucleus surrounded by a thin layer of nongranular cytoplasm.

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lymphocyte British  

/ ˌlɪmfəʊˈsɪtɪk, ˈlɪmfəʊˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a type of white blood cell formed in lymphoid tissue See also B-lymphocyte T-lymphocyte

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lymphocyte Scientific  

/ lĭm′fə-sīt′ /

1. Any of various white blood cells, including B cells and T cells, that function in the body's immune system by recognizing and deactivating specific foreign substances called antigens. B cells act by stimulating the production of antibodies. T cells contain receptors on their cell surfaces that are capable of recognizing and binding to specific antigens. Lymphocytes are found in the lymph nodes and spleen and circulate continuously in the blood and lymph.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lymphocytic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lymphocytes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lymphocyte

First recorded in 1885–90; lympho- + -cyte

Compare meaning

How does lymphocyte compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• lymphoblast vs. lymphocyte
• plasma cell vs. lymphocyte

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lymphocyte lymphocytes

In other words, at any level of lymphocyte output, gene expression was always associated with lymphocyte production.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 26, 2024

The virus itself enters a key cell that’s important in defending your body from outside pathogens, and that cell is the lymphocyte.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 27, 2023

Physicians will routinely look to measures like a patient’s age, lymphocyte count and white blood cell count to gauge how sick he or she may be.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2020

Telomere fluorescence measurements in granulocytes and T lymphocyte subsets point to a high turnover of hematopoietic stem cells and memory T cells in early childhood.

From Nature ● Jan. 23, 2018

When the connection is made, and a particular lymphocyte with a particular receptor is brought into the presence of the particular antigen, one of the greatest small spectacles in nature occurs.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

When the body faces infection or cancer, cytotoxic T lymphocytes bind tightly to their target and form the immune synapse.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 30, 2026

The study showed that SFRP2 is abundant throughout the tumor environment, appearing in cancer cells as well as surrounding immune cells such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor-associated macrophages.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

Measles destroys lymphocytes that defend against other bugs to make way for ones that defend against measles, an immunity won at the cost of other protections.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025

HLH is an immune deficiency disorder which happens when certain types of white blood cells, known as histiocytes and lymphocytes, become overactive and attack the body.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2025

The amebocytes of starfish were recently found to contain a material that immobilizes the macrophages of mammals, resembling a product of immune lymphocytes in higher forms.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas