Leukopoiesis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of producing white blood cells from precursor cells in the bone marrow
2. The formation and development of leukocytes which play a crucial role in the immune response
3. The biological mechanism through which the body generates various types of white blood cells for defense against pathogens

Etymology: Leukopoiesis is a technical coinage built from two Greek elements: "leuko-", from Greek "leukos", meaning "white", and "-poiesis", from Greek "poiesis", meaning "making" or "production". Put together, the term literally means "white-making," and it refers to the formation of white blood cells, the leukocytes that defend the body against infection. The second element is the more interesting of the pair. "Poiesis" comes from the Greek verb "poiein", "to make", which also gave English "poem" and "poet", since a poet was originally a maker. The same ending turns up in other scientific coinages such as "hematopoiesis", the production of blood cells generally, and "erythropoiesis", the production of red blood cells. Medical writers built this family of words from classical Greek parts, so no ancient Greek physician ever used "leukopoiesis" itself.

Synonyms: white blood cell production