vaccine

[ vak-seen or, especially British, vak-seen, -sin ]

See synonyms for vaccine on Thesaurus.com

noun

any preventive preparation used to stimulate the body’s immune response against a specific disease, using either messenger RNA or killed or weakened bacteria or viruses to prepare the body to recognize a disease and produce antibodies.
(no longer in technical use) 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 relating to vaccination.
of or relating to vaccinia.

of, relating to, or derived from cows.

Origin of vaccine

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

Other words from vaccine

pro·vac·cine, adjective

Words Nearby vaccine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vaccine in a sentence

The United States and the United Kingdom are two countries in the English-speaking world that have already entered into deals with potential vaccine makers.
A coronavirus vaccine will save more lives if we share it widely | Kat Eschner | September 17, 2020 | Popular-Science
It’s far from certain that the vaccine will be approved for widespread distribution.
US freezers aren’t cold enough to store one major coronavirus vaccine | Olivia Goldhill | September 17, 2020 | Quartz
Double-dose vaccines will have to come from the same drugmaker.
U.S. outlines sweeping plan to provide free COVID-19 vaccines | Rachel Schallom | September 16, 2020 | Fortune
In the 1950s, Albert Sabin was searching for an improved polio vaccine.
Synthetic biologists have created a slow-growing version of the coronavirus to give as a vaccine | David Rotman | September 16, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
Chen explained that the scale of the global effort gives him confidence that a vaccine will eventually reach market.
When will a COVID vaccine be ready? The fourth quarter or early 2021, top Chinese vaccine executive says | Grady McGregor | September 11, 2020 | Fortune

The vaccine is delivered through a “carrier virus” that causes a common cold in chimpanzees but does not affect humans.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine | Abby Haglage | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
The need for an Ebola vaccine in West Africa has never been greater.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine | Abby Haglage | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
With Ebola still raging in West Africa, the race to find a vaccine is heating up.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine | Abby Haglage | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
On average, the vaccine has an efficacy of about 60 percent.
When You Get the Flu This Winter, You Can Blame Anti-Vaxxers | Kent Sepkowitz | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
With enough changing of the influenza RNA over time, the vaccine no longer provokes the “right” immune response.
When You Get the Flu This Winter, You Can Blame Anti-Vaxxers | Kent Sepkowitz | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
British house of commons voted Dr. Jenner 10,000 for his discovery of the vaccine inoculation.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel Munsell
We have two kinds of vaccines already, the cow-pox vaccine and the killed cultures of bacteria introduced by Wright.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
The final proof was the cure of the patient by an autogenous vaccine made of the offending microbe.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
It would be better to leave off the word vaccine as applied to them and call them what they are, pollen extracts.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
Do we not witness in the newly formed vaccine vesicle, an increase of the specific force and principle?
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease | John Grove

British Dictionary definitions for vaccine

vaccine

/ (ˈvæksiːn) /

nounmed

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

Origin of vaccine

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for vaccine

vaccine

[ văk-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.

a closer look

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.

Cultural definitions for vaccine

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.

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