prion

noun
/ˈpɹiːɒn/UK/ˈpɹʌɪən/UK

Etymology

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

Definitions

  1. A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of…

    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. A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at prion. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01prion02self-propagating03self-propagate04help05provided06stipulation07agreement08follow09catching10infectious

A definitional loop anchored at prion. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at prion

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA