immune

Q: Is it 'immune to' or 'immune from'?

In most cases , if you are immune to something, it has no effect on you—for example, you might be immune to a disease or to criticism. If you are immune from something, it cannot reach you—for example, you might be immune from prosecution in a plea bargain.

Q: What is herd immunity?

The term herd immunity refers to a reduction in the likelihood of someone catching a specific infectious disease because a significant proportion of the people in that person's community are immune to it. If you are less likely to come in contact with an infectious person, you're less likely to get infected yourself. The people in a community can be immune to a particular disease especially through previous exposure or vaccination.

adjective

im·mune i-ˈmyün

Synonyms of immune next

: not susceptible or responsive

immune to all pleas

especially : having a high degree of resistance to a disease

immune to diphtheria

: produced by, involved in, or concerned with immunity or an immune response

immune agglutinins

immune globulins

: having or producing antibodies or lymphocytes capable of reacting with a specific antigen

an immune serum

: marked by protection

some criminal leaders are immune from arrest

: free, exempt

immune from further taxation

immune noun

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it 'immune to' or 'immune from'?

In most cases, if you are immune to something, it has no effect on you—for example, you might be immune to a disease or to criticism. If you are immune from something, it cannot reach you—for example, you might be immune from prosecution in a plea bargain.

What is the immune system?

The immune system is what protects your body from diseases and infections. It's the bodily system that produces the immune response to defend your body from foreign substances, cells, and tissues. The immune system includes various parts of the body including the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, special deposits of lymphoid tissue (such as those in the gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow), macrophages, lymphocytes including the B cells and T cells, and antibodies.

What is herd immunity?

The term herd immunity refers to a reduction in the likelihood of someone catching a specific infectious disease because a significant proportion of the people in that person's community are immune to it. If you are less likely to come in contact with an infectious person, you're less likely to get infected yourself. The people in a community can be immune to a particular disease especially through previous exposure or vaccination.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Photoallergic Reactions Photoallergic reactions are a side effect of certain medicines that make your skin sensitive to the sun's UV rays and provoke an immune reaction. —

Sarah Klein, Health, 7 Mar. 2023 But that won’t necessarily make these A.I.s immune to occasionally emitting bogus information. —

David Meyer, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2023 Porcini are kind of the Lamborghini of mushrooms, a singular statement of meatiness and earthiness virtually immune from substitution. —

Jim Webster, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2023 Rebel Wilson is a proud Disney adult, but that doesn’t make her immune to Disneyland’s rules. —

Amanda Curran, Glamour, 3 Mar. 2023 Open Queue Enterprise spending on cloud computing, largely seen as immune to economic turbulence, continues to grow, but at a slower pace as tech leaders are under pressure to control costs. —

Belle Lin, WSJ, 3 Mar. 2023 One approach is to edit the gene for a plant immune receptor, altering the protein’s shape to recognize a particular pathogenic molecule. —

Byerik Stokstad, science.org, 2 Mar. 2023 Why would boys be more or less immune to the effects of pandemic-era isolation and anxiety? —

David Faris, The Week, 26 Feb. 2023 Both conditions are caused by the abundant release of immune chemicals, and the severity of the side effects increases on a scale of one to four, with one representing mild symptoms to four at life threatening. —

William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'immune.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.