Standard Lemma guide

epitope

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 P IH0 T OW2 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The part of a biomolecule (such as a protein) which is the target of an immune response

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

Examples

  • Holonym: idiotope

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the site on the surface of an antigen molecule to which an antibody attaches itself

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: antigenic determinant, determinant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: site, situation

History

Etymology

From epi- + -tope.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: épitope — target of an immune response
  • German: Epitop — target of an immune response
  • Hungarian: epitóp — target of an immune response
  • Italian: epitopo — target of an immune response
  • Portuguese: epítopo — target of an immune response
  • Spanish: epítopo — target of an immune response
  • Swedish: epitop — target of an immune response