vaccine

[vak-seen or, esp. British, vak-seen, -sin] /vækˈsin or, esp. British, ˈvæk sin, -sɪn/

noun

any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production.

the virus of cowpox, used in vaccination, obtained from pox vesicles of a cow or person.

a software program that helps to protect against computer viruses, as by detecting them and warning the user.

adjective

of or pertaining to vaccination.

of or pertaining to vaccinia.

of, pertaining to, or derived from cows.

Origin

< Neo-Latin (variolae) vaccīnae cowpox (in title of E. Jenner's treatise of 1798), equivalent to vacc(a) cow + -īnae, feminine plural of -īnus -ine¹

Related forms

provaccine, adjective

Examples from the web for vaccine

Even with today's medical advances, millions of people die each year from malaria, for which there is no effective vaccine.
The critics have concluded that the dangers of vaccination outweigh the risks of vaccine-preventable disease.
People understandably have been fixated on a vaccine.
To help determine if allergies suspected to have been caused by a vaccine were actually due to that vaccine.
As new influenza strains emerge, researchers struggle to speed vaccine development.
In the case of a flu vaccine, though, this process could be fast-tracked and completed within a year.
The law imposes liability upon vaccine manufacturers for two reasons.
There's no vaccine for dengue, and no fully protective treatment.
Moreover, the vaccine is delicate and must be kept cool.
If that proves true, the drugs could achieve much of what a vaccine would.

British Dictionary definitions for vaccine

vaccine

/ˈvæksiːn/

noun (med)

a suspension of dead, attenuated, or otherwise modified microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, or rickettsiae) for inoculation to produce immunity to a disease by stimulating the production of antibodies

(originally) a preparation of the virus of cowpox taken from infected cows and inoculated in humans to produce immunity to smallpox

(modifier) of or relating to vaccination or vaccinia

(computing) a piece of software designed to detect and remove computer viruses from a system

Word Origin

C18: from New Latin variolae vaccīnae cowpox, title of medical treatise (1798) by Edward Jenner, from Latin vacca a cow

Word Origin and History for vaccine

"matter used in vaccination," 1846, from Latin vaccina, fem. of vaccinus "pertaining to a cow" (see vaccination).

vaccine in Medicine

vaccine vac·cine (vāk-sēn' vāk'sēn')
n.

A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen, such as a bacterium or virus, or of a portion of the pathogen's structure that upon administration stimulates antibody production against the pathogen but is incapable of causing severe infection.
A vaccine prepared from the cowpox virus and inoculated against smallpox.

vaccine in Science

vaccine

(vāk-sēn')
A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen, such as a bacterium or virus, or of a portion of the pathogen's structure, that stimulates immune cells to recognize and attack it, especially through antibody production. Most vaccines are given orally or by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection. See Note at Jenner.

Our Living Language : In the 1950s, polio epidemics left thousands of children with permanent physical disabilities. Today, infants are given a vaccine to prevent infection with the polio virus. That vaccine, like most others, works by stimulating the body's immune system to produce antibodies that destroy pathogens. Scientists usually prepare vaccines by taking a sample of the pathogen and destroying or weakening it with heat or chemicals. The inactivated or attenuated pathogen loses its ability to cause serious illness but is still able to stimulate antibody production, thereby conferring immunity. The Salk polio vaccine contains "killed" virus, while the Sabin polio vaccine contains weakened "live" poliovirus. (Many scientists no longer consider viruses to be living organisms) Scientists are also able to change the structure of viruses and bacteria at the molecular level, altering DNA so that the potential of the vaccine to cause disease is decreased. New vaccines containing harmless bits of DNA have also been developed.

vaccine in Culture

vaccine [(vak-seen)]

A substance prepared from dead or living microorganisms that is introduced into the body through inoculation. The vaccine causes the development of antibodies, which produce immunity to the disease caused by the microorganism.