Tuberculins

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of protein used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis through skin testing
2. These substances derive from the bacteria that causes the disease in humans or animals
3. Utilized in medicine to identify immune responses to mycobacterial infections, particularly tuberculosis

Etymology: Tuberculins are substances prepared from the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, and the name is a plain coinage: the base "tuberculosis" with the chemical suffix "-in" attached. The "-in" ending, which traces back through Latin and Old French to ancient roots, is the same one found in words like "insulin" and "protein", and it became a standard way to name extracted substances in the 19th and early 20th centuries. "Tuberculin" is simply the name given to a substance derived from the disease. The word is the plural of that name, used for the several preparations of this kind.