What does cytometry mean?
Cytometry is the science and practice of measuring the characteristics of cells — their number, size, internal complexity, and chemical or fluorescent markers. The term belongs to laboratory medicine and biology, where it underpins techniques such as flow cytometry, in which thousands of cells per second pass in single file through a laser beam and are counted, sorted, or analysed based on how they scatter light or fluoresce. Clinicians rely on it to diagnose blood cancers, monitor immune function, and sort particular cell types for research, while biologists use image-based variants to measure cells directly under the microscope. Derived from the Greek roots for 'cell' and 'measure', the word is uncountable, formal in register, and almost always encountered in technical contexts. Its adjective form, cytometric, describes instruments, methods, or data relating to such measurement.
nounThe measurement and analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of cells, most commonly by counting and examining them in a fluid stream as they pass through detectors.
- The quantitative measurement of the properties of cells, especially their number, size, and chemical or fluorescent characteristics, typically using instruments such as flow cytometers.
"Flow cytometry allowed the researchers to sort thousands of immune cells within minutes."
"The diagnosis was confirmed by flow cytometry, which identified an abnormal population of white blood cells."
"Advances in image cytometry have made it possible to measure DNA content in tissue sections without disrupting them."
Cytometry has no plural form; specific techniques are referred to individually, e.g. 'flow cytometry', 'image cytometry'.
"Both flow cytometry and image cytometry were used in the study."
A modern flow cytometer can analyse tens of thousands of individual cells every second — each one measured as it races past a laser in a single-file stream of droplets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cytometry
Cytometry derives from two ancient Greek elements: 'kytos', meaning hollow vessel or cell, and 'metron', meaning measure. It was formed in the modern scientific era on the model of earlier '-metry' terms such as geometry and symmetry, as cell-counting technologies developed through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It thus shares its first root with cytology and cytoplasm, and its second with measurement words across science.
Related word forms
How cytometry is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in medical, biological, and laboratory contexts; it is uncountable and appears mainly in formal scientific writing. 'Flow cytometry' is by far the most frequent specific usage.
Easily confused with cytometry
Cytology is the study of the structure and function of cells, whereas cytometry specifically refers to measuring and quantifying their characteristics.