Basic Details
Word: Immunity
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The body's power to fight off a particular disease; also, special protection from a rule, a duty or a punishment.
Synonyms: resistance, protection, exemption
Antonyms: susceptibility, vulnerability
Word origin: Comes from Latin immunitas, from immunis, free from a duty or tax.
How to Spell Immunity
Syllables: im - mu - ni - ty
Tricky part: There are two m's at the start, and the e at the end of immune disappears: students write imunity or immuneity. The ending is ity.
Watch out for: imunity, immuneity, immunety
Memory tip: Start from immune, the word doctors use, rub out its last e and write ity: immune, immun-ity.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Eating well and sleeping enough help build immunity.
Example 2: The doctor explained that one bout of measles usually gives immunity for life.
Example 3: Hand-washing matters even more when your immunity is low after a fever.
Fun Fact
The first vaccine came from Edward Jenner's work in 1796: he used material from a cowpox sore to protect a boy against smallpox. The word vaccine comes from Latin vacca, a cow.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. epedemic 2. symptem 3. immunity 4. vacination
a) the body's power to resist a particular disease
b) a sign of illness, such as a fever or a cough
c) a disease that spreads quickly through many people in one area
d) treatment with a vaccine to protect against a disease
Show answer
a) the body's power to resist a particular disease. Immunity is the one spelt right; vaccination needs two c's, epidemic has i after the p, and symptom ends in tom.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to immunity as used in the sentence:
Her immunity to chickenpox came from a vaccine she was given as a toddler.
a) defence
b) protection
c) susceptibility
d) resistance
Show answer
c) susceptibility. Immunity is the power to resist infection; susceptibility means being easily affected by it.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
immuneity
a) e
b) i
c) u
d) n
Show answer
a) e. The e of immune drops before ity, just as sane becomes sanity.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Someone with immunity to a disease is ____.
a) spreading it to others
b) protected from catching it
c) likely to catch it quickly
d) a doctor who treats it
Show answer
b) protected from catching it
2. Diplomatic immunity means that a foreign diplomat ____.
a) is protected from arrest under many local laws
b) works without a salary
c) must pay double the usual tax
d) is not allowed to travel
Show answer
a) is protected from arrest under many local laws
