Words / S / Medicine

surfactant

noun/səˈfaktənt/

B2CEFR level
55/100Rarity: uncommon
TechnicalRegister

A lipoprotein secreted by alveolar cells that lowers surface tension and prevents alveolar collapse.

Premature infants deficient in surfactant develop respiratory distress syndrome.

Topic: Respiratory in Medical English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More medicine words: Respiratory