allergy Path.
(ˈælədʒɪ)
[ad. G. allergie (von Pirquet 1906, in Münchener Mediz. Wochenschr. LIII. 1457/2), f. Gr. ἄλλος other, different + ἐργεια (known only in comp. ἐνέργεια: see energy), used for ‘reactivity’: see -y3.]
The altered degree of susceptibility of a body produced by a sensitizing dosage of or exposure to some foreign material; more widely, hypersensitivity to the action of some particular foreign material, as certain foods, pollens, micro-organisms, etc.
| 1911 C. E. von Pirquet in Arch. Internal Med. VII. 260 We might rightly use the word ‘allergy’..as a clinical conception. 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. LXXIII. 759/2 Coca's classification of hypersensitiveness into ‘anaphylaxis’ and ‘allergy’ will serve to clarify this whole field... Anaphylaxis is an antigen antibody reaction, artificially induced by immunologic processes. Allergy is used to express the natural hypersensitiveness of the individual not produced by immunologic processes. 1925 W. W. Duke (title) Allergy, Asthma, Hay Fever, Urticaria and Allied Manifestations of Reaction. Ibid. 20 Wells and others contend that ‘allergy’ is a broad useful term, for under its heading can be described a group of peculiar phenomena of altered reactivity the underlying cause of which is as yet unproved. 1959 Which? Sept. 116/2 The person who is specifically sensitive to some article of food—for instance, shellfish—may make himself very ill after only a mouthful. This is true allergy... True allergy or specific sensitivity to synthetic detergents is rare. |
b. fig. A feeling of antipathy to some thing or person.
| 1944 Auden For Time Being (1945) 118 Before the Diet of Sugar he was using razor blades And excited soon after with an allergy to maidenheads. 1951 Koestler Age of Longing 186 The European public..had developed a violent allergy to all kinds of rationing, saving and public-spirited exhortation. |
Hence ˈallergen [after antigen], a substance producing allergy; allergenic (æləˈdʒɛnɪk) a. Also ˈallergist, one who specializes in allergic phenomena.
| 1912 Jrnl. Pharm. & Exp. Therap. III. 232 The same amount of allergen given in lesser concentration elicits a more intense reaction. 1913 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 7), Allergen..allergenic. 1923 Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 8/6 The majority of cases of spasmodic asthma were due to some allergen. 1934 Webster, Allergist. 1942 in F. R. Moulton Aerobiology 7 Relatively little is known about air-borne bacteria as possible allergens. 1945 Lancet 22 Dec. 822/1 (heading) Alarums of an Allergist. 1957 New Scientist 7 Nov. 39/1 These agents [sc. antibodies] are called allergens when they produce allergic reactions like hay fever. |
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Add: allerˈgenically adv.; allergenicity (ˌælədʒəˈnɪsɪtɪ) n., the capacity to elicit an allergic response.
| 1943 Jrnl. Immunol. XLVII. 443 The proteic component segregated in the allergenically active polysaccharidic-protein fraction..passed readily through a collodion membrane. 1965 Ann. Allergy XXIII. 47/1 Recently we reported initial observations concerning the possible allergenicity of airborne algae. 1978 Clin. Allergy VIII. 135 An allergenically important mite. 1980 Chem. in Brit. Nov. 605/1 Sulphoxide, epoxide and quinone formation from aromatic compounds is a recognised pathway of drug metabolism and the products would react with proteins, but allergenicity has not been firmly linked with them. 1988 Fitness May 30/1 Some people are allergic to specific foods and for this reason Quorn was tested for allergenicity and intolerance in human volunteers. |