thymus

From the Modern Latin thymus, from the Ancient Greek θύμος (thúmos, “warty excrescence, (also, as used by Galen) thymus gland”).

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: thīʹməs, IPA^(key): /ˈθaɪməs/
• Rhymes: -aɪməs

thymus (plural thymuses or thymi)

1. (anatomy, immunology) A ductless gland, consisting mainly of lymphatic tissue, located behind the top of the breastbone. It is most active during puberty, after which it shrinks in size. It plays an important role in the development of the immune system and produces lymphocytes.
   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 234:

     For a very long time the role of the thymus in the body was a complete mystery.

• thymectomy

• enthymeme

• sweetbreads

• “‖thymus” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
    (ˈθaɪməs) Pl. thymi (ˈθaɪmaɪ) … a. Gr. θύμος (θῠ-)

• mythus

From Ancient Greek θύμος (thúmos, “warty excrescence”, “thymus gland”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰy.mus/, [ˈt̪ʰʏmʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈti.mus/, [ˈt̪iːmus]

thymus m (genitive thymī); second declension

1. (medicine) A type of wart

1. (botany) thyme
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid I.436:

      […], redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.

      […], and the fragrant honey spreads back in the air its odour of thyme.

Second-declension noun.

• thymium
• thymōsus
• thymum

• tymus

thymus c

1. (anatomy, immunology) thymus

• bräss