allergy

Etymology

Borrowed from German Allergie. Coined by Austrian pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work, activity”), on the model of Energie.

noun

  1. (pathology, immunology) A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and asthma.
  2. (pathology) Any condition of hypersensitivity to a substance.
  3. Altered susceptibility to a first treatment as exhibited in reaction to a subsequent one.
  4. (informal) An antipathy, as toward a person or activity.
    He has an allergy to reality TV.

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