vaccinate

IPA/ˈvæksɪneɪt/
KK[vˈæksənet]IPA/ˈvæksɪneɪt/

vaccinate — verb

  • vaccinatepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • vaccinateshe / she / it
  • vaccinatedpast simple
  • vaccinating-ing form

1. to help a person or animal avoid a disease by giving a vaccine, most often with

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to help a person or animal avoid a disease by giving a vaccine, most often with a needle

Example

The clinic vaccinated Chiara against yellow fever before her Kenya trip.

vaccinate + person against + disease

Farm workers vaccinated the calves after two cows fell ill.

vaccinate animals after signs of illness

Common collocations
  • vaccinate children
  • vaccinate pets
  • vaccinate against measles
  • fully vaccinated
  • be vaccinated before travel
Synonyms
  • immunize

    slightly broader because it can emphasize the protection achieved, not only the act of giving the vaccine

  • inoculate

    more formal and medical; often used in technical or historical contexts

Grammar Patterns

vaccinate + person/animal

vaccinate + person/animal against + disease

be vaccinated against + disease

Usage Note

Usually takes a person or animal as the direct object, with the disease introduced by against. Passive forms are very common in news and medical advice, especially when rules or recommendations are being stated.

Common Mistakes

The clinic vaccinated the children from measles.
The clinic vaccinated the children against measles.
English uses against after vaccinate to name the disease being prevented.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Vaccinate is the normal everyday verb for giving a vaccine to a person or animal. Immunize is slightly broader because it can also stress the result of becoming protected, not only the act itself. Inoculate is more formal and often sounds medical, technical, or historical, especially in writing about older disease-control methods. Give a shot is informal speech and focuses on the injection event rather than the wider health purpose. A public-health notice may say clinics will vaccinate children this week, a report may say a programme immunized thousands of residents, a history book may describe inoculating people against smallpox, and a parent may simply say the nurse gave their child a shot.

vaccinate ↗immunizeinoculate ↗give a shot

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be vaccinated against [disease]
  • vaccinate children before school starts
  • vaccinate pets every year

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Vaccinate was formed in English from vaccine. That word family goes back to the Latin vaccinus, meaning 'of a cow', because Edward Jenner's early smallpox treatment used cowpox material. The verb later widened from that original medical setting to the general modern idea of giving a vaccine to protect against disease.

First known use

1882

1882, in the meaning defined at transitive sense