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“immunity”
immunity
1. A body's ability to resist a disease.
3. Exemption or protection from something unpleasant; such as, a duty or penalty, to which others are subject.
4. An exemption from prosecution for someone who has knowledge of possible criminal activity and may be personally culpable, offered in exchange for giving sufficient information to the police or to a grand jury.
5. Etymology: "exempt from service or obligation", from Latin immunitatem, immunitas, "exemption from performing public service or charge"; from immunis, "exempt, free" from in- "not" + munis, "performing services".
Immunity may exist naturally or as a result of inoculation or previous infection.
In active immunity, the body itself produces appropriate antibodies and lymphocytes, while in passive immunity, antibodies are introduced from another source, as from mother to fetus.
2. The protection against infectious disease conferred either by the immune response generated by immunization or previous infection or by other non-immunologic factors.3. Exemption or protection from something unpleasant; such as, a duty or penalty, to which others are subject.
4. An exemption from prosecution for someone who has knowledge of possible criminal activity and may be personally culpable, offered in exchange for giving sufficient information to the police or to a grand jury.
5. Etymology: "exempt from service or obligation", from Latin immunitatem, immunitas, "exemption from performing public service or charge"; from immunis, "exempt, free" from in- "not" + munis, "performing services".
This entry is located in the following unit:
muni-, muner-, mun-
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immunity, impunity
immunity (i MYOO ni tee) (noun)
1. A state of being able to resist disease by counteracting its effects: Latonya had already developed immunity to measles and was able to help nurse her younger brother when he came down with them, too.
2. A condition whereby a person is protected or exempt from certain normal civil rules; implies freedom from or protection against something disagreeable or menacing: Walter's status as an ambassador gave him immunity from being questioned by the police.
2. A condition whereby a person is protected or exempt from certain normal civil rules; implies freedom from or protection against something disagreeable or menacing: Walter's status as an ambassador gave him immunity from being questioned by the police.
impunity (im PYOO ni tee) (noun)
A situation where a person is safe from or free from punishment, penalty, or harm: Ryan acted with impunity, knowing that he would not be prosecuted by the police.
The local jewel thief often acted with the knowledge that he had impunity because the police frequently granted him immunity in exchange for secret information about other criminals.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group I; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 1)
Word Entries containing the term:
“immunity”
Special privileges that are accorded to diplomats and their families and staffs by international agreement: Diplomatic immunity includes freedom from arrest, searches, and taxations.
This entry is located in the following unit:
diplo-, dipl-
(page 2)