thymus

From New Latin thymus, from Ancient Greek θύμος (thúmos, “warty excrescence, (also, as used by Galen) thymus gland”).

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: thīʹməs, IPA^(key): /ˈθaɪ.məs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪməs

thymus (plural thymuses or thymi)

1. (anatomy, immunology) Ellipsis of thymus gland (“A ductless gland, consisting mainly of lymphatic tissue, located behind the top of the breastbone. It is most active during puberty, after which it shrinks in size. It plays an important role in the development of the immune system and produces lymphocytes.”).
   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 234:

     For a very long time the role of the thymus in the body was a complete mystery.

• sweetbreads

• “‖thymus” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
    (ˈθaɪməs) Pl. thymi (ˈθaɪmaɪ) … a. Gr. θύμος (θῠ-)

• “thymus”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “thymus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “thymus”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “thymus”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “thymus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “thymus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “thymus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “thymus”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• mythus

From Ancient Greek θύμος (thúmos, “warty excrescence”, “thymus gland”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtʰy.mʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt̪iː.mus]

thymus m (genitive thymī); second declension

1. (medicine) A type of wart

1. (botany) thyme
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid I.436:

      […], redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.

      […], and the fragrant honey spreads back in the air its odour of thyme.

2. (anatomy, New Latin) thymus

Second-declension noun.

• thymium
• thymōsus
• thymum
• thymītēs

• → English: thymus

• tymus

thymus c

1. (anatomy, immunology) thymus

   Synonym: bräss

• thymus in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• thymus in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• thymus in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Svensk MeSH