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Glite Dictionary
type AB

type AB

1 3.5
A blood group whose red blood cells carry both A and B markers and whose plasma lacks antibodies against them
  • noun
  • /taɪp eɪ bi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tipo AB
  • People with type AB blood can accept donations from both type A and type B blood.
  • type AB blood

Examples

  • My blood group is type AB, which means I can receive blood from any donor.

  • Type AB.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • And what about type B's and type AB's—what should they now be eating?

    Blog text (31)

  • He characterizes "AB is for Modern" and states, "Until ten or twelve centuries ago, there was no Type AB blood." (reference 1, p. 13).

    Blog text (31)

  • From Peter's diagram on page 6 of his book, he indicates that blood type AB appeared first in humans sometime between 500 B.C. and 900 A.D.

    Blog text (31)

  • The doctor confirmed that my donor's blood is type AB, making it a perfect match.

Synonyms

AB
vstype AB
  • Specialized
24 4.5

A blood group whose red blood cells have both A and B markers

adds that plasma does not contain antibodies against A or B
group AB
vstype AB
  • Specialized
3.5

A blood type whose red blood cells have both A and B markers

notes plasma lacks anti A and anti B antibodies

Surface Forms

type AB singular
type ABs plural

Morphology

type + AB

The phrase 'type AB' is directly compositional: 'type' (a class or group) combined with 'AB' (the blood group with A and B antigens) yields the blood group named AB. This naming pattern (type + blood-group label) is conventional and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Type AB comes from the way doctors name blood by markers A and B, and a person with Type AB has both markers on their blood cells. That's why 'Type AB' means 'blood with both markers' and why people with it can receive blood from any ABO type.