smallpox
/ˈsmɔːlpɒks//ˈsmɔlpɑks/
smallpox noun: 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.
Noun
smallpox (usually uncountable, plural smallpoxes)
- 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.
- We know that the most deadly of the early epidemics in America were those of the eruptive fevers—smallpox, measles, typhus, and so on. The first to arrive and the deadliest, said contemporaries, was smallpox.1973, Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 42
- Synonyms:
- variola
smallpox meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
smallpox in Hindi
- disease
- चेचक cecak, शीतला śītlā, माता mātā, बड़ी माता baṛī mātā, आतशक ātśak
smallpox in Tamil
- disease
- பெரியம்மை periyammai, அம்மை ammai
smallpox in Marathi
- disease
- देवी devī
smallpox in Urdu
- disease
- چیچک cecak, ماتا mātā, سیتلا sītlā
More languagesFewer languages
- smallpox in Bengali
- গুটিবসন্ত guṭibśonto
- smallpox in Telugu
- మశూచి maśūci
- smallpox in Malayalam
- വസൂരി vasūri, അകമലരി akamalari
- smallpox in Kannada
- ಸಿಡುಬು
- smallpox in Punjabi
- ਚੇਚਕ cecak, ਆਤਸ਼ਕ ātaśak, ਵੱਡੀ ਮਾਤਾ vaḍḍī mātā, ਦਾਣੇ dāṇe
- smallpox in Gujarati
- શીતળા śītaḷā, શીળી śīḷī
- smallpox in Odia
- ବସନ୍ତ basanta
- smallpox in Sinhala
- මසූරි masūri, මසූරිකා masūrikā, මහලෙඩ mahaleḍa, වසූරිය wasūriya
- smallpox in Assamese
- বৰ আই bor ai, বসন্ত ৰোগ boxonto rüg
- smallpox in Nepali
- बिफर् biphar
- smallpox in Tagalog
- bulutong
- smallpox in Arabic
- جُدَرِيّ judariyy
- smallpox in Malay
- cacar
- smallpox in Persian
- آبله âbele
- smallpox in Thai
- ฝีดาษ fǐi-dàat, โรคฝีดาษ
- smallpox in Vietnamese
- đậu mùa
- smallpox in Myanmar
- ကျောက်ကြီး kyaukkri:
- Sindhi
- ماتا maataa, माई, सीतला
- Dhivehi
- ކަށި ވިދުރި kaṣi viduri
Examples of smallpox in a sentence
- Smallpox was rife after the siege had been lifted.
- Variolation is no longer used today. It was replaced by smallpox vaccination, a safer alternative, which in turn led to the development of vaccines against many other diseases.
- With smallpox gone, tuberculosis is today the deadliest infectious disease on the planet.
Synonyms of smallpox
Forms of smallpox
| plural | smallpoxes |
|---|
Origin of smallpox
From small + pox, in contrast to greatpox (“syphilis”).
Words formed from smallpox
Questions about smallpox
- What does smallpox mean?
- Smallpox means 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.
- What is smallpox in Hindi?
- Smallpox in Hindi is चेचक (cecak), शीतला (śītlā), माता (mātā). See Smallpox meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is smallpox?
- Smallpox is a noun.
- How do you pronounce smallpox?
- Smallpox is pronounced /ˈsmɔːlpɒks/ (UK).
- What is the plural of smallpox?
- The plural of smallpox is smallpoxes.
Words near smallpox in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smallpox (page history and authors); smallpox (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); बिफर् (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-smallpox.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-smallpox.wav.
Cite this entry: “smallpox.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smallpox. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.