Prion

//ˈpɹiːɒn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue.

    "Prions retain deep mysteries, the foremost of which is what on earth they exist for."

  2. 2
    A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena.
  3. 3
    (microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
pachyptilepachyptile

Example

More examples

"Prions retain deep mysteries, the foremost of which is what on earth they exist for."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From (a reordering of) the initial letters of proteinaceous infectious particle. Coined by American neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner in 1982.

Etymology 2

From Prion (former genus name), from Ancient Greek πρίων (príōn, “saw”).

Related phrases

Antarctic prionSalvin's prionbroad-biled prionfairy prionfulmar prionprion diseaseprion proteinslender-billed prionbovine spongiform encephalopathycreutzfeldt jakob diseasemad cow diseasenew variant cruetzfeldt jakob disease

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.