immune

Etymology

From Middle English, from Middle French immun, from Latin immūnis (“exempt from public service”), from in- (“not”) + mūnus (“service”).

adj

1. (usually with "from") Exempt; not subject to.
   As a diplomat, you are immune from prosecution.
   He had always been remarkably immune from such little ailments, and had only once in his life been ill, of a vicious pneumonia long ago at school. He hadn't the faintest idea what to with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose. 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/9/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days
   Bret Stephens believed that, by virtue of his comfortable position at the New York Times, he ought to be immune from insult or criticism. 2019-9-3, David Karpf, “Bret Stephens Compared Me to a Nazi Propagandist in the New York Times. It Proved My Point.”, in Esquire
2. (medicine, usually with "to") Protected by inoculation, or due to innate resistance to pathogens.
   I am immune to chicken pox.
3. (by extension) Not vulnerable.
   Alas, he was immune to my charms.
   … most of the original electrical signalling equipment has had to be replaced by apparatus immune to 50-cycle currents. 1959 June, “The opening of the Colchester-Walton-Clacton electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 306
4. (medicine) Of or pertaining to the immune system.
   We examined the patient's immune response.
   Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction. 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

noun

1. (epidemiology) A person who is not susceptible to infection by a particular disease
   Susceptibles effectively exposed to cases become cases in the next time period; cases recovering from the infection accumulate as immunes. 1965, Rene J. Dubos, James G. Hirsch, editors, Bacterial and Mycotic Infections of Man, page 742

verb

1. (rare, transitive) To make immune.
   In the seventies those who met me did not know / Of the vision / That immuned me from the chillings of mis-prision […] 1917, Thomas Hardy, In the Seventies
   The utilization of such milk will, however, necessitate an adaptable milk preservation method, through which the immuning agents will not be destroyed or diminished. 1905, American Veterinary Medical Association, Journal, volume 29, page 42