Vacca
/ˈvak.ka/noun
A Latin and Italian word meaning a female bovine or cow; in English, it chiefly appears in scientific names and historical terms.
Did you know?The medical word “vaccine” ultimately comes from Latin vacca, “cow,” because Edward Jenner’s smallpox prevention used material from cowpox lesions.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Italic, before 500 BCE
Proto-Italic
*wakkā
“Reconstructed term for a cow or female bovine”
Classical Latin, 1st century BCE–1st century CE
Latin
vacca
“A cow, especially a female bovine”
Late Latin, 3rd–6th centuries
Latin
vaccinus
“Of or belonging to a cow”
18th Century
English
vaccine
“A substance derived from cowpox and used to protect against smallpox”
19th Century
English
vaccination
“The practice of inoculating with vaccine”
Modern English
English
vacca
“A Latin or Italian zoological term for a cow, also retained in scientific nomenclature”
Explore more surprising origins