smallpox
UK /ˈsmɔːlpɒks/ · US /ˈsmɔlpɑks/ noun
Forms smallpoxes
- noun (pathology) An acute, highly infectious often fatal disease caused by Variola virus of the family Poxviridae. It was completely eradicated in the 1970s, but still exists in laboratories. Those who survived were left with pockmarks. “The Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis and leprosy.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From small + pox, in contrast to greatpox (“syphilis”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A contagious, constitutional, febrile disease characterized by a peculiar eruption; variola. The cutaneous eruption is at first a collection of papules which become vesicles (first flat, subsequently umbilicated) and then pustules, and finally thick crusts which slough after a certain time, often leaving a pit, or scar.
Etymology [Small + pox, pocks.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “smallpox”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details