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I doubt that immunity and immune-system should be synonyms. They are obviously closely related but as far as I know they are not synonyms rather just related to each other.

I'd argue that immunity is caused by the immune-system but immunity itself is not the immune-system.

Is it used as the same thing in some medical context that I am not aware about?

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  • Sure, there's a distinction and it would be better to have both and for both to have decent descriptions, but tag maintenance is last place in priorities for most people. Keep building your rep and once you get to the ability to edit tags, by all means go for it.
    – Carey Gregory Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2019 at 2:04

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A tag synonym doesn't mean "these two words mean the same thing." It means "a question about X is ipso facto a question about Y". Can you imagine a question that is about immunity but is not about the immune system, or vice versa? If these were two separate tags, can you imagine a question using only one tag where the other would not belong?

Historically this site has used stuff-all-the-synonyms-into-one-tag tags like which I think is suboptimal. But there are some synonyms: consider and . These are not dictionary synonyms at all. But for the purposes of this site, if your question is about skin, it's about dermatology, and vice versa. That's what synonym means here.

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  • I semi-disagree: "How long does it typically take for an MD to be certified as a dermatologist?" is not about skin; and "statistical calculation of herd immunity" is not about immune-system.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented May 7, 2020 at 13:36
  • I think the real issue is whether tag synonyms are intended to relate similar topics or topics with a common audience.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented May 7, 2020 at 13:39
  • tags exist to be watched and ignored, and to a lesser extent to get tag badges in. They can also remind readers of important information that would otherwise be somewhere loose in the body - on other sites this might be what programming language you're using, or the country that you are travelling to or asking about the laws or culture of.
    – Kate Gregory
    Commented May 7, 2020 at 13:57

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