What does vaccinated mean?
Vaccinated is the past tense and past participle of vaccinate and also functions as an adjective meaning that a vaccine has been given. A vaccinated person has received a vaccine intended to stimulate immunity to a particular disease. The word is especially common in public health language, including the expressions fully vaccinated and vaccinated against measles or influenza. It can also be used figuratively: a person may be described as vaccinated against corruption, rumor, or another danger, meaning protected or less susceptible to it. Although this figurative use is vivid, it can sound informal compared with the precise medical term immune to the disease. Vaccination names the process, while vaccine names the substance administered. The word is regionally neutral in standard British and American English and is valuable in discussions of medicine and public health because it focuses on the person who has received protection.
Administered a vaccine to someone, thereby stimulating immunity to a disease.
"The clinic vaccinated thousands of children against measles."
This is the past tense and past participle of vaccinate.
Having received a vaccine or vaccines intended to protect against a disease; figuratively, protected against a threat.
"The hospital required all vaccinated staff to carry proof of vaccination."
Common in attributive use, as in “vaccinated population,” and in the construction “vaccinated against.”
Vaccinated has a bovine beginning: its roots lead to Latin vacca, “cow,” through the pioneering use of cowpox to prevent smallpox.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vaccinated come from?
Vaccinated comes from the English verb vaccinate, formed in the early 19th century from vaccine. Vaccine derives from Latin vaccinus, meaning “of or from cows” and referring to cowpox, ultimately from vacca, the Latin word for “cow.” The -ated form became the standard past tense and past participle of vaccinate and is now also widely used as an adjective.
Related word forms
How vaccinated is actually used
Vaccinated is the past tense and past participle of vaccinate and is also used attributively before a noun. It is neutral in register and standard in both British and American English. The figurative expression “vaccinated against” is established but may be less precise than “immune to” in formal medical contexts.
Easily confused with vaccinated
A vaccine is the substance administered to stimulate immunity; a vaccinated person is someone who has received it.