antigen
noun
Simple meaning
A substance that induces an immune response, usually foreign but not always so.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
antuhjuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæntədʒən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
immunology
A substance that induces an immune response, usually foreign (nonself) but not always so.
immunology
Any substance (as a toxin or enzyme) that stimulates an immune response in the body (especially the production of antibodies)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: (immunology) A substance that induces an immune response, usually foreign (nonself) but not always so.
Used this way, antigen is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “antigen” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.