Avidity
[ə-VID-ə-dee]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Late Middle English, mid 15th century
1.
Extreme eagerness or enthusiasm.
2.
[Biochemistry] the overall strength of binding between an antibody and an antigen.
Examples of Avidity in a sentence
"The doctor scoured the medical studies on antibody avidity, hoping to find answers."
"Kate binged the Netflix series with an avidity she rarely showed for anything."
About Avidity
This word stems from the French “avidité” or directly from the Latin “aviditas,” from “avidus,” meaning “eager, greedy.”
Did you Know?
In biochemistry, “affinity” and “avidity” are closely related. “Affinity” is how well a single antibody-antigen site binds, whereas “avidity” refers to the strength of all those interactions collectively. With avidity, binding strength depends on the effects that come from multiple proteins “working together” because it’s easier for one to bind if another is already tethered nearby.
