GC: n
S: NCBI – https://bit.ly/2OHVc3w (last access: 9 October 2019); MEDLP – https://bit.ly/2q00zAu (last access: 9 October 2019).
N: 1. – white (adj): Old English hwit “bright, radiant; clear, fair,” also as a noun (see separate entry), from Proto-Germanic *hweit- (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian hwit, Old Norse hvitr, Dutch wit, Old High German hwiz, German weiß, Gothic hveits), from PIE *kweid-o-, suffixed form of root *kweit- “white; to shine” (source also of Sanskrit svetah “white;” Old Church Slavonic sviteti “to shine,” svetu “light;” Lithuanian šviesti “to shine,” švaityti “to brighten”).
– blood (n): Old English blod “blood, fluid which circulates in the arteries and veins,” from Proto-Germanic *blodam “blood” (source also of Old Frisian blod, Old Saxon blôd, Old Norse bloð, Middle Dutch bloet, Dutch bloed, Old High German bluot, German Blut, Gothic bloþ), according to some sources from PIE *bhlo-to-, perhaps meaning “to swell, gush, spurt,” or “that which bursts out” (compare Gothic bloþ “blood,” bloma “flower”), from suffixed form of root *bhel- (3) “to thrive, bloom.” But Boutkan finds no certain IE etymology and assumes a non-IE origin.
– cell (n): early 12c., “small monastery, subordinate monastery” (from Medieval Latin in this sense), later “small room for a monk or a nun in a monastic establishment; a hermit’s dwelling” (c. 1300), from Latin cella “small room, store room, hut,” related to Latin celare “to hide, conceal,” from PIE root *kel- (1) “to cover, conceal, save.”
From “monastic room” the sense was extended to “prison room” (1722). The word was used in 14c., figuratively, of brain “compartments” as the abode of some faculty; it was used in biology by 17c. of various cavities (wood structure, segments of fruit, bee combs), gradually focusing to the modern sense of “basic structure of all living organisms” (which Oxford English Dictionary dates to 1845).
Electric battery sense is from 1828, based on the “compartments” in very early types. Meaning “small group of people working within a larger organization” is from 1925. Cell-body is from 1851, cell-division from 1846, cell-membrane from 1837 (but cellular membrane is 1732), cell wall from 1842.
2. White blood cell, also called leukocyte or white corpuscle, a cellular component of the blood that lacks hemoglobin, has a nucleus, is capable of motility, and defends the body against infection and disease by ingesting foreign materials and cellular debris, by destroying infectious agents and cancer cells, or by producing antibodies.
3. A healthy adult human has between 4,500 and 11,000 white blood cells per cubic millimetre of blood. Fluctuations in white cell number occur during the day; lower values are obtained during rest and higher values during exercise. An abnormal increase in white cell number is known as leukocytosis, whereas an abnormal decrease in number is known as leukopenia. White cell count may increase in response to intense physical exertion, convulsions, acute emotional reactions, pain, pregnancy, labour, and certain disease states, such as infections and intoxications. The count may decrease in response to certain types of infections or drugs or in association with certain conditions, such as chronic anemia, malnutrition, or anaphylaxis.
4. There are two major types: those without granules in the cytoplasm, such as lymphocytes and monocytes … and those with granular cytoplasm (granulocytes), which include basophils and neutrophils.
S: 1. OED – https://bit.ly/2VATW3g (last access: 9 October 2019). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://bit.ly/2jnnUX4 (last access: 9 October 2019). 4. TERMIUM PLUS – https://bit.ly/2LXLrMy (last access: 9 October 2019).
SYN: leukocyte, leucocyte, WBC, white cell, white blood corpuscle, white corpuscle.
S: GDT – https://bit.ly/31976px (last access: 9 October 2019)
CR: platelet, red blood cell.
