vaccination

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun taking a vaccine as a precaution against contracting a disease
  2. noun the scar left following inoculation with a vaccine

Etymology

From vaccinia, a cowpox infection. Ultimately from Latin vacca (“cow”). Coined by Edward Jenner (1749-1823) in 1798. Jenner infected people with weakened cowpox viruses (vaccinia), to immunise them against smallpox. It is now known that vaccinia and cow pox are separate conditions, but at the time of Jenner, they were considered the same condition.

In classic literature

Synonyms

inoculation

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