vaccinus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [wakˈkiː.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [vatˈt͡ʃiː.nus]^[1]

Forms

vaccīnus (feminine vaccīna, neuter vaccīnum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vacca (“cow”) + -īnus.^[2][3] Etymonline calls vacca a word of uncertain origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, speaks of cow's milk, beef and cow's-milk cheese.^[5][6] Köbler dates him 23/24–79 AD.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant of or from a cow, as lac vaccīnum “cow's milk” in Pliny the Elder and Marcellus Empiricus.^[2][5][6]

In medieval Latin it was also used of beef and of cow leather, and a writer notes that cow's milk is richer in butter than sheep's.^[7] Edward Jenner's variolae vaccīnae “cowpox” gave English vaccination in 1800 and the adjective vaccine in 1798, and the noun English vaccine came in 1846 from French vaccin.^[4]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of cow's milk.^[5][3]
• 1798 – English vaccine “of cows” is recorded.^[4]
• 1800 – Jenner's vaccination is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or from a cow.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of cow leather.^[7]

Related words

• vacca
• English vaccine
• English vaccination

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press