serum

English Online Dictionary. What means serum‎? What does serum mean?

English

Etymology

From Latin serum (“whey”). Cognates include French sérum, Spanish suero, Italian siere, siero, Portuguese soro. Doublet of suero.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪəɹəm/, /ˈsiːɹəm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹəm/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsiɹəm/
• Rhymes: (UK) -ɪəɹəm, (US) -ɪɹəm

Noun

serum (countable and uncountable, plural serums or sera)

2. Ellipsis of blood serum.
4. Blood serum used as a blood product, in the practice of medicine: blood serum from the tissues of immunized animals (human or nonhuman), containing antibodies and used to transfer immunity to another individual (human or nonhuman).

   Near-synonym: antiserum

6. A watery liquid from animal tissue, especially one that moistens the surface of serous membranes or that is exuded by such membranes when they become inflamed, such as in edema or a blister.
8. The watery portion of certain other animal fluids, such as milk; whey.
10. (skincare) A skincare product of varying consistencies with a high concentration of one or more active ingredients, for a targeted purpose, such as preventing acne, repairing sun damage, or moisturizing.

Derived terms

Related terms

• sero-

Translations

See also

Further reading

• “serum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “serum”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “serum”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• semur, resum, Reums, Mureș, Remus, merus, muser, Muser, murse, mures, Sumer, Esrum

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin serum. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseː.rʏm/, [ˈsɪː.rʏm]
• Hyphenation: se‧rum

Noun

serum n (plural sera or serums)

1. blood serum

Derived terms

• antiserum
• bloedserum

Descendants

• → Indonesian: serum

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch serum (“serum”), from Latin serum.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈserum/ [ˈse.rʊm]
• Rhymes: -erum
• Syllabification: se‧rum

Noun

serum (plural serum-serum)

1. serum:
   1. (hematology) the clear yellowish liquid obtained upon separating whole blood into its solid and liquid components after it has been allowed to clot
   2. (immunology) blood serum from the tissues of immunized animals, containing antibodies and used to transfer immunity to another individual
   3. a watery liquid from animal tissue, especially one that moistens the surface of serous membranes or that is exuded by such membranes when they become inflamed, such as in edema or a blister
   4. (skincare) a skincare product of varying consistencies with a high concentration of one or more active ingredients, for a targeted purpose, such as preventing acne, repairing sun damage, or moisturizing

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /səˈrum/ [səˈrum]
• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: se‧rum

Noun

sêrum (plural serum-serum)

1. syllabic abbreviation of serangan umum (“general offensive”)

Further reading

• “serum” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Latin

Alternative forms

• serū

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *serom (“liquid”), from Proto-Indo-European *sér-o- (“flowing, liquid”), from *ser- (“to flow, run”); cognate with Sanskrit सर (sará, “flowing”), सार (sā́ra, “curd, cream”), सारण (sāraṇa, “flowing, buttermilk”), and Ancient Greek ὁρός (horós, “whey, curd, semen”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛ.rũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛː.rum]

Noun

serum n (genitive serī); second declension

1. whey
2. (by extension) some other watery liquid

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Descendants

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

sērum

1. nominative neuter singular of sērus

References

Further reading

• “serum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “serum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "serum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• serum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Old Norse

Verb

serum

1. first-person plural past indicative active of sá

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin serum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ.rum/
• Rhymes: -ɛrum
• Syllabification: se‧rum

Noun

serum n (indeclinable)

1. (rare) serum (yellowish fluid obtained from blood)

   Synonym: surowica

2. (cosmetics) serum (skincare product)

Further reading

• serum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• serum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin serum (“whey”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sěːrum/
• Hyphenation: se‧rum

Noun

sérum m (Cyrillic spelling се́рум)

1. serum

Declension