thymic

¹ American  

[tahy-mik, thahy-mik] / ˈtaɪ mɪk, ˈθaɪ mɪk /

adjective

1. pertaining to or derived from thyme.

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thymic ² American  

[thahy-mik] / ˈθaɪ mɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the thymus.

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ˈthymic British  

/ ˈθaɪmɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the thymus

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Etymology

Origin of thymic¹

First recorded in 1865–70; thyme + -ic

Origin of thymic²

First recorded in 1650–60; thym(us) + -ic

Example Sentences

"We're engineering the body to mimic thymic factor secretion."

From Science Daily • Dec. 29, 2025

This process is called thymic involution, and it reduces the body's ability to produce new T cells.

From Science Daily • Dec. 29, 2025

Animal studies have shown that transplanted thymic grafts between inbred strains of mice involuted according to the age of the donor and not of the recipient, implying the process is genetically programmed.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

In a process known as positive selection, double-negative thymocytes bind to the MHC molecules they observe on the thymic epithelia, and the MHC molecules of “self” are selected.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Microscopically they consist of solid masses of epithelioid cells with numerous blood-vessels between, while, embedded in their periphery, are often found masses of thymic tissue including the concentric corpuscles of Hassall.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various