Etymologically
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antibody

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:26. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈæn.tiˌbɒd.i/, /ˈæn.tɪˌbɒd.i/[1]
  • US: /ˈæn.tɪˌbɑ.di/[1]

Etymology

It is a translation from German Antikörper,[2][3][4][5][6][7] formed from English anti- + body on the model of the German word,[2][6][8] which Paul Ehrlich used in 1891.[2] The German word is made of anti- (“against”) and Körper (“body”);[3][6] Barnhart and Etymonline think it was condensed from a phrase such as anti-toxischer Körper (“antitoxic body or substance”).[9][8] Klein calls the English word a hybrid of Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “against”) and English body.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A protein produced in the body that binds to a foreign substance as part of an immune response: 1894, in G. A. Buckmaster in Science Progress.[2][4] Barnhart and Etymonline date the word to 1901,[7][8] Dictionary.com to 1895–1900.[11]

Semantic evolution

In its early use the word referred to a substance in the blood acting as an antitoxin, and Barnhart defines it as a substance that weakens or destroys bacteria and neutralizes their toxins.[8][7] Modern dictionaries define it as one of the immunoglobulins, proteins made by B cells in response to an antigen.[4][12] A figurative use, for something produced in reaction to a threat or offering protection against harm, is recorded from 1920.[2]

Timeline

  • 1891 – German Antikörper, in Ehrlich.[2]
  • 1894 – English antibody, in immunology.[2][4]
  • 1901 – the date in Barnhart and Etymonline.[7][8]
  • 1920 – figurative use.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any of a large group of proteins (immunoglobulins) produced by the immune system in response to an antigen, which bind to it and help to neutralize or destroy it.[4][12][2]
  2. (figurative) Something produced in reaction to a threat, or that protects against harm.[2]

Word family

  • alloantibody
  • anti-antibody
  • autoantibody
  • isoantibody
  • monoclonal antibody
  • polyclonal antibody
  • antigen
  • antitoxin
  • anti-
  • body

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins