interferon

1. 1.

   an antiviral protein produced by cells that have been invaded by a virus; inhibits replication of the virus

   Broaderantiviral

   Narroweralpha-interferonbeta-interferongamma-interferon

Other forms of interferon

plural

interferons·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about interferon

What does interferon mean?

interferon means "an antiviral protein produced by cells that have been invaded by a virus; inhibits replication of the virus".

How many syllables are in interferon?

interferon has 4 syllables: in-ter-fer-on. The stress falls on "fer". In IPA it is /ˌɪntɚˈfɛɹɑn/.

Is interferon a common word?

interferon is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.