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variole

[vair-ee-ohl]
See more synonyms for variole on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a shallow pit or depression like the mark left by a smallpox pustule; foveola.
  2. a light-colored spherule, common in some igneous rocks, that gives a pockmarked appearance to weathered rock surfaces.
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Origin of variole

1820–30; < French: variola
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for variole

Historical Examples

  • A roundish and rather deep depression, larger than a variole.

    An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. IV (of 4)

    William Kirby

  • When a variole, tubercle, granule, &c. has a depression in its centre.

British Dictionary definitions for variole

variole

noun
  1. any of the rounded masses that make up the rock variolite
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Word Origin

C19: from French, from Medieval Latin; see variola
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