smallpox

Definition

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.

Etymology

From small + pox, in contrast to greatpox (“syphilis”).

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "Can't make it in today, Mr. Smithers; I have smallpox. Well it wasn't wiped out in my house!"