serum English · revision 39957

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1672, R. Wiseman, Treatise of Wounds|origins=ine-pro *ser-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈsɪəɹəm/, /ˈsiːɹəm/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈsɪɹəm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|serum|t=whey, watery fluid]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD 2024) Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein connect the Latin noun with [[grc|ὀρός|tr=orós|t=whey]] and [[sa|सरस्|tr=sará-|t=flowing]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) and Barnhart and Klein also with [[m|grc|ὁρμή|tr=hormḗ|t=onset, impulse]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) the source of [[hormone]];^(Klein 1966) all are referred to [[ine-pro|*ser-|t=to run, flow]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) Skeat gave the same comparison but noted a doubt.^(Skeat 1911)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The watery fluid of the animal body, normal or diseased, and especially the clear liquid that separates from blood when it clots: the OED's first quotation is from Richard Wiseman's ''Treatise of Wounds'' (1672).^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Etymonline dates the word to the 1670s,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart to 1672.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster gives 1665 as the first known use,^(MWU 2024) and Dictionary.com 1655–65.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) defined ''serum'' first as the thin, watery part that separates from a liquid, as the whey from milk, and then as the part of the blood that separates from the clot.^(Johnson 1755) At the end of the 19th century the word came to be used for blood serum taken from an immunized animal and used to treat or diagnose disease:^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) the OED's first example is from the ''British Medical Journal'' in 1895,^(OED 2026) while Etymonline and Barnhart date this use to 1893.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) From the mid-20th century ''serum'' is also used attributively for substances measured in the blood serum, as in ''serum cholesterol''.^(HTOED) Both ''serums'' and the Latin plural ''sera'' are used.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1665 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1672 – watery animal fluid; the fluid part of clotted blood.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1755 – Johnson defines it as the thin part of a liquid, as the whey of milk, and as the fluid part of the blood.^(Johnson 1755)

+ * 1893 – blood serum used in medical treatment.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1895 – serum used as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1958 – attributive use for substances in the serum.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The clear, pale yellow [[fluid]] that remains when [[blood]] [[clot|alt=clots]]; blood serum.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Serum from an animal that has been [[immunize|alt=immunized]] against a disease, containing [[antibody|alt=antibodies]] and used to treat or prevent the disease: ''The doctors flew in a serum against the snakebite.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Any watery fluid of the body, normal or diseased.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A light, liquid cosmetic preparation applied to the skin or hair.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[antiserum]]

+ * [[serous]]

+ * [[blood serum]]

+ * [[immune serum]]

+ * [[serum sickness]]

+ * [[truth serum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sero-]]

+ * [[whey]]

+ * [[hormone]]

+ * [[plasma]]

+ * [[lymph]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}