immunity

      English

      Pronunciation

      Etymology

      From Latin immunitas, in the legal sense; the medical use was borrowed from German or French

      Noun

      immunity (countable and uncountable; plural immunities)

      1. (uncountable) The state of being insusceptible to something; notably:
        1. (medicine) Fully protective resistance against infection.
          Some people have better immunity to diseases than others.
        2. (in law) An exemption from specified duties, such as payments or services.
          Feudal privileges often included tax and other immunities.
        3. (in law) An exemption from prosecution.
          The prosecutor offered the lieutenant immunity for all the crimes he would testify having known to be planned by the elusive drug baron.
        4. (in games and competitions) An exemption given to a player from losing or being withdrawn from play.
          After winning the last round the player was granted immunity which allowed him to stay in the game even after receiving the least amount of points.
      2. (countable) A resistance to a specific thing.

      Related terms

      Synonyms

      Translations

      the quality of being resistant to infection
      exemption from specified duties
      exemption from legal prosecution
      exemption given to a player
      resistance to a specific thing
      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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      Last modified on 4 June 2013, at 23:27