Definition of "thymocyte" [thymocyte]

• A lymphocyte that derives from the thymus and is the precursor of a T cell. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Precisely how these two T cell lineages are generated from common thymocyte progenitor cells remains to be fully elucidated and is under intense investigation."
• "Because thymic tumors can support thymocyte development, aberrant T-cell generation has been suggested as a cause."
• "The development of CMV CNS disease is associated with risk factors (T-cell depletion, anti-thymocyte globulin, umbilical cord blood transplantation) that cause severe and protracted T-cell immunodeficiency (8 of 11 cases), a history of recurrent CMV viremia treated with multiple courses of preemptive ganciclovir or foscarnet therapy (11 of 11 cases), and ganciclovir-resistant CMV infection (11 of 11 cases)."