antibody

IPA/ˈæntibɒdi/
KK[ˈæntɪbˌɑdi]IPA/ˈæntibɑːdi/

antibody — noun

  • antibodysingular
  • antibodiesplural

1. a Y-shaped blood protein that the immune system makes after meeting a specific h

1.nounC1
Definition

a Y-shaped blood protein that the immune system makes after meeting a specific harmful substance, such as a virus or bacteria, and that locks onto that substance to help destroy it — for example, after a flu infection or vaccine.

Example

Doctors found that Hana's body had produced antibodies against the measles virus.

produce antibodies against + virus/bacteria

After a mild infection, most patients develop antibodies that protect them for several months.

develop antibodies (+ that-clause modifier)

Common collocations
  • produce antibodies
  • develop antibodies
  • antibody test
  • antibody response
  • antibody levels
  • antibodies against
  • neutralising antibodies
Synonyms
  • immunoglobulin

    the technical scientific term for the same molecule, used in medical and lab contexts

Antonyms
  • antigen

    not a true opposite — an antigen is the foreign substance that triggers the antibody response

Grammar Patterns

antibody to/against + noun

produce/develop antibodies

Usage Note

Almost always countable and often plural; singular forms appear mainly in technical phrases like 'antibody response' or 'antibody test'. Frequently followed by 'to' or 'against' plus the specific pathogen or substance.

Common Mistakes

My body made antibody for the virus.
My body made antibodies against the virus.
usually plural, and the typical preposition is 'against' or 'to', not 'for'.
The vaccine creates antibodies of COVID.
The vaccine creates antibodies against COVID.
'antibodies of X' is wrong; use 'against' or 'to' to name the target.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Antibody is the everyday term used in news, health advice, and conversations about vaccines or infections — most learners will only ever need this word. Immunoglobulin (often shortened to Ig, as in IgG or IgM) is the precise scientific name for the same protein and appears in lab reports, medical papers, and drug names; choose it when the context is technical or clinical. Antigen is not a synonym at all but is often confused with antibody: an antigen is the foreign substance (such as part of a virus, bacteria, or pollen) that the immune system reacts to, while the antibody is what the body makes in response. A simple way to remember the pair: 'The antigen arrives; the antibody answers.' For example, a COVID vaccine introduces a harmless antigen so that the body learns to make antibodies.

antibody ↗immunoglobulin ↗antigen ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • antibody test
  • antibody response
  • antibody levels
  • antibody therapy
  • monoclonal antibody

Phrases

  • produce antibodies
  • develop antibodies
  • detect antibodies
  • neutralising antibodies

Prepositions

  • antibodies against
  • antibodies to

Etymology

Greek (anti-)Old English (body)German (Antikörper)English

Coined in the late 1890s as a translation of the German word Antikörper, used by early immunologists to describe substances the body forms to act 'against' (anti-) foreign matter ('body' here meaning a particle or substance). The English term spread quickly with the rise of immunology in the early twentieth century and is now standard in both medical and everyday English.