Variolation
/ˌvær.i.əˈleɪ.ʃən/noun
The deliberate inoculation of a person with material from smallpox lesions to induce a usually milder infection and subsequent immunity.
Did you know?Inoculation practices observed in the Ottoman Empire were brought to English-speaking Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who had her son variolated in 1721.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wer-
“To turn, bend, or change; the proposed ancestral root behind Latin words associated with variation and turning.”
Classical Latin
Latin
varius
“Spotted, mottled, changing, or varied.”
Classical Latin
Latin
variola
“Smallpox; literally a diminutive form associated with spots or a spotted condition.”
17th Century
New Latin
variolare
“To inoculate with smallpox matter; formed from variola.”
18th Century
English
variolation
“The act or practice of inoculating against smallpox by deliberately introducing variolous material.”
Modern English
English
variolation
“Historical smallpox inoculation, later largely replaced by vaccination.”