Autologous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to biological materials, especially cells or tissues, that originate from the individual being treated, often used in medical procedures
2. Describing tissues or cells harvested from the same person for therapeutic purposes, frequently seen in medical contexts
3. Referring to biological substances, particularly cells or tissues, that are derived from the same individual who will receive their use in treatment, notably in medical applications

Etymology: Autologous describes tissue or blood that is taken from a patient's own body and put back into that same patient, usually in surgery or transfusion. The word is a simple coinage: it combines "auto-", from Greek "autos" meaning "self", with a stem from Greek "logos", "reason" or "word," and attaches the English adjective ending "-ous." Its ending comes from Latin "-osus," meaning "full of" or "having the quality of," which reached English through Old French "-us" and Middle English "-ous." The same suffix appears in familiar words such as "famous" and "nervous," so autologous is built like any other English adjective of this kind, with the Greek prefix supplying the meaning of self-sourced.

Synonyms: self-derived, self-originating, endogenous, native, own

Antonyms: allogeneic, heterologous, foreign, alien, xenogeneic