serum
noun
Simple meaning
A watery liquid from animal tissue.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sihruhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɪɹəm
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
Blood serum used as a blood product, in the practice of medicine: blood serum from the tissues of immunized animals (human or nonhuman), containing antibodies and used to transfer immunity to another individual (human or nonhuman).
A watery liquid from animal tissue, especially one that moistens the surface of serous membranes or that is exuded by such membranes when they become inflamed, such as in edema or a blister.
The watery portion of certain other animal fluids, such as milk; whey.
skincare
A skincare product of varying consistencies with a high concentration of one or more active ingredients, for a targeted purpose, such as preventing acne, repairing sun damage, or moisturizing.
The portion of whole blood that is not blood cells and not clotting factors; it can be separated as a clear yellowish liquid after the blood has been allowed to clot.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Blood serum used as a blood product, in the practice of medicine: blood serum from the tissues of immunized animals (human or nonhuman), containing antibodies and used to transfer immunity to another individual (human or nonhuman).
Used this way, serum is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use serum
- “The doctor applied a protective serum to her skin after the treatment.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Albumin occurring in blood serum.
A delayed allergic reaction to the injection of an antiserum caused by an antibody reaction to an antigen in the donor serum.
Globulins occurring in blood serum and containing most of the antibodies of the blood.
An acute (sometimes fatal) form of viral hepatitis caused by a DNA virus that tends to persist in the blood serum and is transmitted by sexual contact or by transfusion or by ingestion of…
A delayed allergic reaction to the injection of an antiserum caused by an antibody reaction to an antigen in the donor serum.
A class of proteins produced in lymph tissue in vertebrates and that function as antibodies in the immune response.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: blood serum used as a blood product
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