Definition

Describing tissue components that easily absorb basic dyes during staining processes.

Example

The basophilic cells in the sample showed a strong reaction to the dye, indicating their high affinity for basic stains.

Conversation

I was reading about different types of cells in biology class today.

Oh really? What caught your attention?

They mentioned something about basophilic cells that are easy to stain.

That sounds interesting! I wonder how they use that in experiments.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Basophilic → It is formed from "baso-" (from Greek "basis", meaning base or foundation) and "-philic" (from Greek "philia", meaning love or affinity). The word describes cells or substances that have an affinity for basic dyes, indicating their tendency to be stained by them.

Memory Tip

Think of 'base' ('basso-') and 'love' ('-philic') to remember that 'basophilic' refers to something that has an affinity for basic substances.

Visually Confused Words