What does variola mean?
Variola is a formal, chiefly historical term for smallpox, the viral disease that once produced fever and widespread skin lesions and caused severe illness and death. In modern medical and historical writing, it may refer either to the disease itself or, in the compound variola virus, to the virus responsible for it. The word belongs to specialized registers rather than everyday speech, and it survives partly because variola major and variola minor name the historically distinguished severe and mild forms of smallpox. Documentation of variola outbreaks shaped public health, vaccination practices, and disease-control policy for centuries. Smallpox was certified eradicated in 1980, so present-day mentions of variola are normally retrospective, taxonomic, or educational rather than reports of ordinary illness. For readers, variola is a useful precise historical term: it identifies smallpox without the broader associations of the everyday word pox and connects modern medical terminology with the Latin varius, “variegated” or “mottled,” in reference to the characteristic appearance of lesions.
nounA chiefly historical medical term for smallpox, a highly contagious viral disease characterized by fever and a progression of skin lesions. The name can also denote the virus responsible for smallpox, especially in the term variola virus.
- The disease commonly known as smallpox, now chiefly encountered in medical and historical writing.
- The virus that causes smallpox, chiefly in technical usages such as variola virus.
"Public-health records show how variola spread through crowded communities before vaccination became widespread."
"Public-health records show how variola spread through crowded communities before vaccination became widespread."
"The archive preserves notes about variola cases from several nineteenth-century outbreaks."
Both plurals are rare in modern English, which normally uses variola as a mass noun when referring to the disease.
"Recorded variolae include major outbreaks in several nineteenth-century cities."
Smallpox was certified eradicated in 1980, yet its old name, variola, survives in medical history and in the name variola virus.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of variola
The word comes through Medieval or New Latin variola, meaning “smallpox,” from Latin varius, “variegated” or “mottled,” probably referring to the disease's pustules and marks on the skin. It entered English during the 17th century and was later applied to inoculation against smallpox. Its wider Latin relatives include variety, various, variable, and variegate.
Related word forms
How variola is actually used
A formal, specialized, and now largely historical term. In ordinary modern English, smallpox is much more common; variola remains especially relevant in medical history, epidemiology, and virology.
Easily confused with variola
A variometer is an instrument used to measure electrical variation, whereas variola is a medical term for smallpox or its virus.