Immunity

How to spell immunity

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce immunity

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does immunity mean?

1. nounThe body's ability to resist a particular infection or toxin, usually through antibodies.
2. nounAn official exemption from a legal duty, prosecution, or liability.

Immunity in a sentence

• The vaccine is designed to build long-term immunity against the virus.

• The witness was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony.

• Children gradually develop immunity to common childhood illnesses.

• Diplomats often enjoy immunity from local traffic fines.

Where does immunity come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin immunitas, which meant an exemption from a public duty or tax. It was built on immunis, meaning 'free from obligation', combining the negating prefix in- (here softened to im-) with munus, a noun that meant a duty, service, or public office, and sometimes a gift. English took the word in through Old French during the late Middle Ages, when it described freedom from a tax, levy, or feudal service. The much later biological sense, the body's resistance to a particular disease, grew out of that same idea of being exempt; it became common in medicine during the nineteenth century as the science of disease and vaccination advanced. The same munus root surprisingly links immunity to 'municipal' and 'munificent', and the doubled m that trips writers up comes straight from the prefix im- meeting the m of munus.

How the word is built

• im- (not, exempt)
• mun (from Latin munus: duty, service, obligation)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix)