smallpox

American  

[smawl-poks] / ˈsmɔlˌpɒks /

noun

Pathology.

1. an acute, highly contagious, febrile disease, caused by the variola virus, and characterized by a pustular eruption that often leaves permanent pits or scars: eradicated worldwide by vaccination programs.

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smallpox British  

/ ˈsmɔːlˌpɒks /

noun

1. Technical name: variola.  an acute highly contagious viral disease characterized by high fever, severe prostration, and a pinkish rash changing in form from papules to pustules, which dry up and form scabs that are cast off, leaving pitted depressions

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smallpox Scientific  

/ smôl′pŏks′ /

1. A highly infectious and often fatal disease caused by the variola virus of the genus Orthopoxvirus and characterized by fever, headache, and severely inflamed skin sores that result in extensive scarring. Once a dreaded killer of children that caused the deaths of millions of Native Americans after the arrival of European settlers in the Americas, smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980 following a worldwide vaccination campaign. Samples of the virus have been preserved in laboratories in the United States and Russia.

2. Also called variola

3. See Note at Jenner

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smallpox Cultural  

1. An acute and infectious disease caused by a virus and now almost completely eradicated. Smallpox was characterized by high fever and large sores on the body that leave scars.

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Discover More

Today, the smallpox virus exists only in laboratories.

A surface with many blemishes is sometimes said to be “pockmarked” because it resembles the skin of a smallpox sufferer.

The use of smallpox is a major concern in the area of bioterrorism (see also bioterrorism).

Smallpox is the first disease of humans to be completely eradicated by a worldwide campaign of inoculation.

Etymology

Origin of smallpox

First recorded in 1510–20; small + pox

Example Sentences

As it happened, Fordlandia was beset by smallpox and yellow fever, rubber-destroying fungi, and labor unrest that required military intervention.

From Barron's • Jan. 18, 2026

“The Doctors’ Riot of 1788” centers on the New York incident but also tells the broader story of medicine in the early American republic, including quack cures and smallpox panics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026

Their long-term goal is to test these mpox and smallpox vaccine antigens and antibody treatments in humans.

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 2025

In 1855, Massachusetts became the first state to require that children receive a smallpox vaccine before attending school.

From Salon • Sep. 12, 2025

Virgin-soil death rates for smallpox are hard to establish because for the last century most potential research subjects have been vaccinated.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann