horror autotoxicus
nounEtymology Latinate neologism coined c. 1900 by Paul Ehrlich in German, from Latin horror, auto- (“self”), toxicus (“toxic”). Compare horror vacui.
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Immunology, Medicine, Sciences Historical The now-discredited principle that the body will not harm itself by its own immune reactions.
- Ehrlich's dictum of horror autotoxicus makes no claim that autoantibodies may not be formed; it only suggests that they are somehow prevented from acting.1989, Arthur M. Silverstein, A History of Immunology, →ISBN, page 163: