Standard Lemma guide

pyroptosis

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of programmed cell death associated with antimicrobial responses during inflammation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire; fever”) + πτῶσῐς (ptôsĭs, “falling”), by analogy with apoptosis. Equivalent to pyro- + ptosis. Coined by Brad T. Cookson and Molly A. Brennan in a 2001 paper in Trends in Microbiology.