Standard Lemma guide

lymph

noun · 5 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.

  • /lɪmf/
  • [lɪmpf]
  • Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪmf
  • CMU ARPABET: L IH1 M F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Pure water.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literary, obsolete, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Pure water.

The sap of plants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary, obsolete, uncountable, usually

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A colourless, watery, coagulable bodily fluid which bathes the tissues and is carried by the lymphatic system into the bloodstream; it resembles blood plasma in containing white blood cells and especially lymphocytes but normally few red blood cells and no platelets.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lymphatic fluid, lymphatic liquid

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The discharge from a sore, inflammation etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: immunology, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a thin coagulable fluid (similar to plasma but) containing white blood cells (lymphocytes) and chyle; is conveyed to the blood stream by lymphatic vessels

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liquid body substance, bodily fluid, body fluid, humor, humour

History

Etymology

Borrowing from French lymphe and/or Latin lympha (“clear water”), from Ancient Greek νῠ́μφη (nŭ́mphē, “bride; spring water”). Doublet of nymph.

Across languages

Translations

63 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abkhaz: ажьӡы́ (aždzə́) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Abkhaz: али́мфа (alímfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Afrikaans: limf — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Arabic: لِمْف (limf) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Armenian: ավիշ (aviš) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Bulgarian: ли́мфа (límfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Catalan: limfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Chinese Cantonese: 淋巴 (lam4 baa1) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Chinese Mandarin: 淋巴 (línbā) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Czech: míza — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Danish: lymfe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Dutch: lymfe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Dutch: lymf — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Esperanto: limfo — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Finnish: imuneste — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Finnish: lymfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • French: lymphe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Georgian: ლიმფა (limpa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • German: Lymphe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Greek: λύμφη (lýmfi) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Greek: λέμφος (lémfos) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Hebrew: לימפה (límfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Hindi: लसीका (lasīkā) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Hungarian: nyirok — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Icelandic: vessi — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Icelandic: sogæðavökvi — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Indonesian: limfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Indonesian: getah bening — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Irish: limfe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Italian: linfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Japanese: リンパ液 (rinpa-eki) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Kazakh: лимфа (limfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Khmer: ទឹករងៃ (tɨk rɔɔrɔngɨy) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Korean: 림프 (rimpeu) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Northern Kurdish: lîmf — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Latin: lympha — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Macedonian: лимфа (limfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Malayalam: ലിംഫ് (limphŭ) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Māori: waitinana — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Māori: wētaikiri — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Mongolian: лимфа (limfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Mongolian: тунгалаг (tungalag) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Mongolian: ᠲᠤᠩᠭᠠᠯᠠᠭ (tungɣalaɣ) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lymfe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: lymfe — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Persian: لنف — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Polish: chłonka — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Polish: limfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Portuguese: linfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Romanian: limfă — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Russian: ли́мфа (límfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Sikkimese: ཆུ་སེར (chu ser) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Slovak: miazga — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Spanish: linfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Swedish: lymfa — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Thai: น้ําเหลือง (nám-lʉ̌ʉang) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Tibetan: ཆུ་སེར (chu ser) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Turkish: ak kan — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Turkish: lenf — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Ottoman Turkish: لنفا (lenfa) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Udmurt: тӧдьывир (töďyvir) — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Vietnamese: bạch huyết — fluid carried by the lymphatic system
  • Welsh: gwaedlyn — fluid carried by the lymphatic system