Etymologically
Log in

immune

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪˈmjuːn/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin immunis (“exempt from public service, untaxed”),[2][3][4] from in- (“not”) and mūnis, performing services (compare municipal),[2][3] which Watkins derives from PIE Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“to change, go, move”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Free or exempt, from taxes or other liabilities: about 1420.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense free from a liability was common from the 15th to the 17th century.[6] The medical sense, protected against a disease, is from 1881,[5][2] a back-formation from immunity,[2] and the noun, an immune person, from 1898.[5] The body's immune system is so called by 1917.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1420 – exempt.[5]
  • 1881 – protected against disease.[5]
  • 1898 – an immune individual.[5]
  • 1917 – immune system.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Protected against a disease, as by vaccination or natural resistance.
  2. Of or relating to immunity.
  3. Exempt from an obligation that others have.
  4. Not affected by an influence.

Noun

  1. A person who is immune.

Word family

  • autoimmune
  • hyperimmune
  • immunization
  • immunize
  • immunology
  • nonimmune
  • acquired immune deficiency syndrome
  • cell-mediated immune response

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press