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vaccine

Syllabification: (vac·cine)
Pronunciation: /vakˈsēn/
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Definition of vaccine

noun

Medicine
  • a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease:there is no vaccine against HIV infection
  • Computing a program designed to detect computer viruses and inactivate them.

Origin:

late 18th century: from Latin vaccinus, from vacca 'cow' (because of the early use of the cowpox virus against smallpox)

vaccine in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of vaccine in the British & World English dictionary