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