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Glite Dictionary
basophilia

basophilia

9.9
A change in cells that makes them take a blue dye and look dark blue under a microscope
  • noun
  • /ˌbeɪsəˈfɪliə/
  • Specialized
: basofilia
  • The basal layer nuclei have dense basophilia, and this deepest layer of epidermis is a sharp delineation from the overlying stratum spinosum.

Examples

  • In histology, basophilia is observed when the cell structures appear prominently stained with basic dyes.

  • During the examination, basophilia was evident in the cancerous cells under the microscope, revealing their unusual staining properties.

  • The presence of basophilia in the tissue sample indicated an inflammatory response in the patient.

Surface Forms

basophilia singular
basophilias plural

Morphology

basophilia = basophil (semi-transparent) = baso + phil + ia

Formed by the regular medical derivation basophil + -ia to name a condition, but both the base and affix are specialized combining forms unfamiliar to general learners.

Etymology

Basophilia comes from two parts: baso- meaning 'base', as in the word 'basic', and -philia meaning 'love' or 'attraction'. So, basophilia describes cells that 'like' basic dyes and therefore stain strongly in the lab.