self-tolerance

noun

self-tol·​er·​ance ˌself-ˈtä-lə-rən(t)s 

-ˈtäl-rən(t)s

: the physiological state that exists in an organism when its immune system has proceeded far enough in the process of self-recognition to lose the capacity to attack and destroy its own bodily constituents

Examples of self-tolerance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The experiment indicated that the CD25-carrying T helper cells were promoting immune self-tolerance in the mice, and Sakaguchi and colleagues coined these cells regulatory T cells, which caught on. —Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 6 Oct. 2025

For decades, scientists thought self-tolerance was primarily established in the parts of the body that make immune cells, such as the thymus for T cells and the bone marrow for B cells. —Aimee Pugh Bernard, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2025

Crucially, the findings also helped create new cancer treatments: Cancer cells use the body’s self-tolerance to hide, and immunotherapy is designed to take the brakes off and allow the immune system to attack those cells. —Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-tolerance

• intolerance
• tolerance

Medical Definition

self-tolerance

noun

self-tol·​er·​ance ˈself-ˈtäl(-ə)-rən(t)s 

: the physiological state that exists in a developing organism when its immune system has proceeded far enough in the process of self-recognition to lose the capacity to attack and destroy its own bodily constituents

called also horror autotoxicus