Leukozyten

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The term refers to white blood cells responsible for immune responses in the body
2. It describes the cells that play a crucial role in protecting against infections and diseases by combating pathogens
3. These are the components of the blood that help in defense against foreign invaders, critical to the immune system

Etymology: Leukozyten is the German plural of Leukozyt, a term built from two Greek parts: "leukos", meaning white, and "kytos", originally a hollow vessel, which biologists adopted to mean a cell. The "white" refers to contrast rather than the cells' own colour. Red blood cells, packed with hemoglobin, dominate a blood sample, so cells that lack it look pale beside them. English speakers usually say "leukocytes", the same Greek construction in English form. The name was coined by scientists rather than inherited from ancient medicine, so it describes what they could see under the microscope, not what the Greeks knew about blood.

Synonyms: white blood cells, leukocytes, WBCs, immune cells