vaccine

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun immunogen consisting of a suspension of weakened or dead pathogenic cells injected in order to stimulate the production of antibodies

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).

In classic literature

Synonyms

vaccinum

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