Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

vaccine

/vækˈsin/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.00 in modern English

Syllables
vac-cine
IPA
/vækˈsin/
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, pertaining to, caused by, or characteristic of cowpox.

adj

Of or pertaining to cowpox as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox; also, of or pertaining to such material used for vaccination.

adj

Of, pertaining to, or derived from cattle.

Archaic

noun

A substance given to stimulate a body's production of antibodies and provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease (or a derivative of it; or a related, also effective, but safer disease), or a synthetic substitute; also, a dose of such a substance.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The process of vaccination; immunization, inoculation.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The material taken from cowpox pustules used for vaccination against smallpox.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The disease cowpox, especially as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox.

Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable

noun

Something defensive or protective in nature, like a vaccine (sense 1.1).

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vaccīnus (“of or derived from a cow”), from vacca (“cow (female cattle)”) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sense 1 refers to the early use of the cowpox virus as a vaccination against smallpox: see New Latin variolae vaccīnae (“cowpox”, plural, literally “infectious diseases of cattle causing pustules”), coined by the British physician and scientist Edward Jenner (1749–1823).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: vaccine, vaccīnus

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /vækˈsin/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce vaccine?
The recorded pronunciation is /vækˈsin/.
What does vaccine mean?
Of, pertaining to, caused by, or characteristic of cowpox.
Where does vaccine come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce vaccine

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “vaccine”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/vækˈsin/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “vaccine”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “vaccine” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.