interleukin

Meaning

Noun

• Any of a group of cytokine proteins important in the regulation of lymphocyte function.

Origin

• inter- + leuko-;
• *inter-: from Latin inter- (“between, amid”), a form of prepositional inter (“between”).
• *leuko: from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”)
• *-in: from French -ine, from Latin -īna, feminine of -īnus "of" or "belonging to"