Added 9 October 2026
vaccine
/vækˈsin/ noun
Latin root: vaccīnus Coined: 1749, by Edward Jenner Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about vaccine at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Immunogen consisting of a suspension of weakened or dead pathogenic cells injected in order to stimulate the production of antibodies.
Origin
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).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)