Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
perifollicular

perifollicular

9.9
Around the root of a hair or similar small skin pocket
  • adjective
  • Specialized
: perifolicular
  • The doctor noted the perifollicular inflammation around the hair follicles during the examination.

Examples

  • Although the diagnosis is often made clinically, histology shows infiltrates of perifollicular and intrafollicular CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cells.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Higher magnification showing perifollicular infiltrates (40X).

    Academic text (2007)

  • In cases of alopecia areata, perifollicular changes can indicate an immune response.

  • The biopsy revealed perifollicular lymphocytic infiltrates consistent with a dermatological condition.

Surface Forms

perifollicular positive

Morphology

perifollicular = follicular (transparent) = peri + follicle + ular

Formed by adding the productive medical prefix 'peri-' ('around') to the adjectival base 'follicular', so the meaning 'around a follicle' is directly derivable. [Postprocessing: moved 'peri' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Perifollicular breaks into peri- meaning 'around' and follicle meaning 'a small pocket that holds a hair or other tiny body part'. So perifollicular means 'around a follicle' and is used for things like redness or small red spots that appear next to hair follicles. Think of peri- like in perimeter or peripheral to remember it means 'around'.