Skip to main content
xenotransplant

xenotransplant

1 9.9
A surgery that moves organs or tissue from an animal into a person
  • noun
  • /ˌzɛnəʊtrænsˈplænt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : xenotransplante

Examples

  • A medicine-related biotechnological development was that of xenotransplants—the transplanting of organs from one species into another.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Recent advances in medicine have led to the development of xenotransplant procedures that aim to save lives by using organs from animals.

  • The doctors conducted a successful xenotransplant where they replaced a failing kidney with one from a genetically modified pig.

  • Researchers are studying the potential of xenotransplants to provide a solution to the shortage of available human organs for transplant.

Synonyms

transplantation
vsxenotransplant
2 5.4

An act of moving a person, animal, or plant to a new place

is specifically a surgical operation transferring tissue across species
transplanting
vsxenotransplant
1 3.7

Moving a plant or part of the body from one place to another

is the surgical act of implanting tissue between different species
xenotransplantation
vsxenotransplant
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The transplant of an organ or tissue from an animal into a human

is a surgical operation that moves tissue from one species into another

Surface Forms

Morphology

xenotransplant = transplant (semi-transparent) = xeno + transplant

The meaning is compositionally 'xeno' (foreign/other) + 'transplant', but 'xeno' is a technical combining form not familiar to average B1 learners.

Etymology

Xenotransplant comes from the Greek prefix xeno- meaning 'foreign' or 'stranger' and the word transplant, which breaks into trans- 'across' and plant 'to put in'. So a xenotransplant is like putting tissue or an organ from a 'foreign' species 'across' into another, which is why it means a transplant between different species.