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Added 9 October 2026

variola

noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. More about variola at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A highly contagious viral disease characterized by fever and weakness and skin eruption with pustules that form scabs that slough off leaving scars.

Origin

From Middle English variolas pl (“pustules, pocks”), from Medieval Latin or Medical Latin variola (“infectious disease causing pustules; pox”), from Latin varius. Doublet of variole.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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