Added 7 October 2026
vaccination
/ˌvæk.sɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ noun
Latin root: vacca Coined: 1749, by Edward Jenner Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about vaccination at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Inoculation with a vaccine, in order to protect from a particular disease or strain of disease.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)