By Taylor Tibbs
Vaccine
(noun, /vak-SEEN/)
What does it mean?
A vaccine is a biological product used to protect or immunize against a certain disease. When vaccines are given, they stimulate the immune system to develop a protective response against the causative agent of a disease or pathogen (such as a virus). Vaccines can be composed of either whole inactivated forms of a pathogen or pieces of that pathogen.
Illustration is the author’s own work.
How do I use it in a sentence?
“I am protected against the disease measles because I received the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine as a child.”
Illustration is the author’s own work.
Etymology
In Latin, vaccinus literally means “from cows.” In the 1800s, a British scientist named Edward Jenner discovered that he could protect children against the deadly disease smallpox if he injected them with cowpox – a similar, but less deadly virus.
Related terms
Fields of study in which this word is commonly used
Medicine
Immunology
Microbiology