English Explanatory Dictionary

vaccine

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Of, pertaining to, caused by, or characteristic of cowpox.
Of or pertaining to cowpox as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox; also, of or pertaining to such material used for vaccination.
Of, pertaining to, or derived from cattle.

noun

A substance given to stimulate a body's production of antibodies and provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease (or a derivative of it; or a related, also effective, but safer disease), or a synthetic substitute; also, a dose of such a substance.
The process of vaccination; immunization, inoculation.
The material taken from cowpox pustules used for vaccination against smallpox.
The disease cowpox, especially as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox.
Something defensive or protective in nature, like a vaccine (sense 1.1).
A software program which protects computers against, or detects and neutralizes, computer viruses and other types of malware; an antivirus.

verb

Synonym of vaccinate (“to treat (a person or an animal) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease”).

Pronunciation

/vækˈsin/ /ˈvækˌsin/ En-us-vaccine.ogg /ˈʋæk.sɪn/ [ʋæːk.sɪn]

Word forms

vaccine vaccines vaccining vaccined

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vaccīnus (“of or derived from a cow”), from vacca (“cow (female cattle)”) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sense 1 refers to the early use of the cowpox virus as a vaccination against smallpox: see New Latin variolae vaccīnae (“cowpox”, plural, literally “infectious diseases of cattle causing pustules”), coined by the British physician and scientist Edward Jenner (1749–1823).

Synonyms

Related words

unvaccinated vaccinate vaccinated vaccination vaccinia vaccinifer vacciniola jab shot gamma globulin which may be given as a form of passive immunization

Derived words

abortion vaccine antivaccine anti-vaccine antivax antivaxxer autovaccine candidate vaccine DPT vaccine immunovaccine MMR vaccine monovaccine nanovaccine oncovaccine polyvaccine postvaccine post-vaccine prevaccine pro-vaccine retrovaccine Sabin vaccine supervaccine therapeutic vaccine unvaxxed vaccine diplomacy vaccine escape vaccine hesitancy vaccine-injured vaccine injury vaccine nationalism vaccine passport vaccine point Vaccine Revolt vaccine-shop vaccine shopper vaccine shopping vaccinize vaccinogen vaccinogenic vaccinogenous vaccinoid vaccinologist vaccinology vaccinomics vaccinophobe vaccinophobia vaccinophobic vaccinosis vax vaxxed

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