horror autotoxicus

noun

The now-discredited principle that the body will not harm itself by its own immune reactions.

OriginLatin horror →
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Meanings

nounhorror autotoxicus (uncountable)
  1. historicaluncountableimmunologyThe now-discredited principle that the body will not harm itself by its own immune reactions.

    Ehrlich's dictum of horror autotoxicus makes no claim that autoantibodies may not be formed; it only suggests that they are somehow prevented from acting.

    1989, Arthur M. Silverstein, A History of Immunology, →ISBN, page 163

Origin

  1. Latinhorror
  2. Englishhorror autotoxicus

Latinate neologism coined c. 1900 by Paul Ehrlich in German, from Latin horror, auto- (“self”), toxicus (“toxic”). Compare horror vacui.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

horror autotoxicus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horror%20autotoxicus

MLA

“horror autotoxicus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horror%20autotoxicus. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horror autotoxicus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horror%20autotoxicus.

Source: horror autotoxicus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.