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Glite Dictionary
heterophil test

heterophil test

6.0
A blood test that looks for antibodies to help detect mononucleosis
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛtərəˌfɪl tɛst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : prueba heterofílica
  • The doctor ordered a heterophil test to check for mononucleosis.

Examples

  • A positive heterophil test is indicative of an Epstein-Barr virus infection.

  • If the patient's heterophil test comes back negative, further testing may be needed.

  • The doctor ordered a heterophil test to confirm the suspected case of mononucleosis.

  • Have you ever had a heterophil test done?

  • A positive heterophil test is indicative of an Epstein-Barr virus infection.

  • If the patient's heterophil test comes back negative, further testing may be needed.

  • The doctor ordered a heterophil test to confirm the suspected case of mononucleosis.

Synonyms

enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay
vsheterophil test
  • Specialized
7.2

A lab test that uses an enzyme to find antibodies or germs in blood

focuses on a single antibody type to diagnose a specific infection
agglutination test
vsheterophil test
  • Specialized
5.8

A blood test that mixes blood with a known antibody to see clumping that shows blood type or infection

targets one antibody to diagnose a particular infection rather than antigens

Surface Forms

heterophil test singular
heterophil tests plural

Morphology

heterophil + test

The phrase follows the productive '[noun] test' pattern meaning 'a test for X', so if a learner knows the constituent 'heterophil' and 'test' the overall meaning is directly derivable. In practice 'heterophil' is a specialized biomedical term unlikely to be known by a B1 learner, but compositional structure makes the MWE transparent given knowledge of the parts.

Etymology

Heterophil test gets its name from antibodies called heterophils, where hetero means 'different' and phil means 'to like'. In the old lab test these antibodies made animal red blood cells clump, so a positive heterophil test showed the body was making those antibodies and helped doctors identify 'mono'.