Etymologically
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immunity

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɪˈmjuː.nə.ti/, US /ɪˈmjuː.nə.t̬i/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ymmunite, probably borrowed from Old French immunité (“privilege, inviolability”) and directly Latin immūnitās (“exemption from public service or charges”),[2][3] from immūnis (“exempt, free”) (see immune), from in- (“not”) and mūnis (“performing services”) (see common).[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exemption from a service, obligation, tax or law: 1382 in the OED, about 1384 in the Wycliffe Bible in Barnhart.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The exemption of the clergy and church property from secular authority is from 1513,[6] and a particular privilege from 1538.[6] Freedom from any natural liability is from 1592.[6] The medical sense, protection from infectious disease, is from 1879, borrowed from French or German medical use.[2][3][6] Immune is from about 1440, meaning free or exempt.[2]

Timeline

  • 1382 – exemption from duties.[6]
  • c. 1440 – immune, exempt.[2]
  • 1513 – church immunity.[6]
  • 1592 – freedom from a liability.[6]
  • 1879 – immunity from disease.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The ability of an organism to resist a disease or infection.
  2. Exemption from normal legal duties, penalties or liabilities, as granted to diplomats.
  3. The quality or condition of being immune.

Word family

  • hyperimmunity
  • nonimmunity
  • immunize
  • immuno-
  • immunology
  • herd immunity
  • use immunity
  • cell-mediated immunity

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press