vaccinate
v.v. to give a person or animal a small amount of a disease to help their body fight it. This makes them immune to the illness in the future.
v. to administer a vaccine to a person or animal to confer immunity against a specific disease. Transitive — requires a direct object.
The doctor will vaccinate the children against the flu.
Health officials are working to ensure every adult in the city is vaccinated before the winter season begins.
While the initial trial showed promising results, the researchers had to determine if the vaccine would effectively vaccinate a diverse population across different geographic regions.
From vaccine + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated May 30, 2026