inoculate

verb in·oc·u·late \ i-ˈnä-kyə-ˌlāt \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

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Examples: inoculate in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of inoculate

inoculated; inoculating

transitive verb

1 a : to introduce a microorganism into

inoculate mice with anthrax

beans inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria

b : to introduce (something, such as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth

c : to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease

inoculate children against diphtheria

2 : to introduce something into the mind of

3 : to protect as if by inoculation

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inoculative

play \i-ˈnä-kyə-ˌlā-tiv\ adjective

—

inoculator

play \i-ˈnä-kyə-ˌlā-tər\ noun

See inoculate defined for English-language learners

See inoculate defined for kids

inoculate was our Word of the Day on 09/15/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of inoculate in a Sentence

inoculated them with the idea that the individual can always make a difference in this world

Recent Examples of inoculate from the Web

Anyone who has worked the red carpet for years will be inoculated against the spiteful tabloid comments about a glimpse of cellulite, or a stray gray hair.

— daisy goodwin, Time, "How Meghan Markle Is Giving the Royal Family the Shake-Up It Needs," 17 May 2018
This economic medicine may possibly inoculate him against rising religiosity.

— The Economist, "Indonesia’s president is neither a grubby politician nor a diehard reformer," 10 May 2018
Researchers from the World Health Organization and elsewhere were able to mount a trial of rVSV-ZEBOV using ring vaccination, inoculating people who’d come into contact with people with Ebola, and contacts of those contacts.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "An Ebola Vaccine Gets Its First Real-World Test," 21 May 2018
There was concern that such a move early on could have caused undue public anxiety and triggered a rush of people who weren’t considered at risk to get inoculated, possibly depleting the vaccine supply.

— michael smolens, sandiegouniontribune.com, "A new twist on San Diego's homeless-hepatitis nexus," 20 May 2018
His own days in office may be numbered—although his popularity could inoculate him against dismissal, even with a change of government.

— The Economist, "Charlemagne: The Minniti methodHow Italy’s interior minister tackles illegal migration," 1 Feb. 2018
Five pounds of spawn can inoculate up to thirty-two square feet, so be sure to have the appropriate amount of available space.

— Sunset, "How to Grow Mushrooms," 22 Jan. 2018
Picker and his crew inoculated 34 rhesus macaques with the vaccine and then later infected them with a virulent strain of tuberculosis.

— lynne terry, OregonLive.com, "Oregon scientist develops promising vaccine against tuberculosis," 15 Jan. 2018
Successful organic gardeners rely on compost to improve soil fertility and moisture management, nourish helpful microbes, and inoculate against destructive ones.

— the editors of organic life, Good Housekeeping, "How To Build The Ultimate Compost Bin," 16 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inoculate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

If you think you see a connection between "inoculate" and "ocular" ("of or relating to the eye"), you are not mistaken - both words look back to "oculus," the Latin word for "eye." But what does the eye have to do with inoculation? Our answer lies in the original use in English of "inoculate" in Middle English: "to insert a bud in a plant." Latin oculus was sometimes applied to things that were seen to resemble eyes, and one such thing was the bud of a plant. "Inoculate" was later applied to other forms of engrafting or implanting, including the introduction of vaccines as a preventative against disease.

Origin and Etymology of inoculate

Middle English, to insert a bud in a plant, from Latin inoculatus, past participle of inoculare, from in- + oculus eye, bud — more at eye

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1721

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

inoculate Synonyms

Synonyms

endue (or indue), imbue, inculcate, infuse, ingrain (also engrain), invest, steep, suffuse;

Near Antonyms

deprive, divest, strip;

clear, empty;

eliminate, remove, take away;

implant, instill, plant;

impregnate, permeate, pervade, saturate;

deluge, drown, fill, flood, inundate, overwhelm, submerge;

Synonym Discussion of inoculate

infuse, suffuse, imbue, ingrain, inoculate, leaven mean to introduce one thing into another so as to affect it throughout. infuse implies a pouring in of something that gives new life or significance.

- new members infused enthusiasm into the club

suffuse implies a spreading through of something that gives an unusual color or quality.

- a room suffused with light

imbue implies the introduction of a quality that fills and permeates the whole being.

- imbue students with intellectual curiosity

ingrain, used only in the passive or past participle, suggests the deep implanting of a quality or trait.

- clung to ingrained habits

inoculate implies an imbuing or implanting with a germinal idea and often suggests stealth or subtlety.

- an electorate inoculated with dangerous ideas

leaven implies introducing something that enlivens, tempers, or markedly alters the total quality.

- a serious play leavened with comic moments

Other Microbiology Terms

pathogen, salmonella, tetanus

INOCULATE Defined for English Language Learners

inoculate

verb

Definition of inoculate for English Language Learners

medical : to give (a person or animal) a weakened form of a disease in order to prevent infection by the disease

INOCULATE Defined for Kids

inoculate

verb in·oc·u·late \ i-ˈnä-kyə-ˌlāt \

Definition of inoculate for Students

inoculated; inoculating

: to inject a material (as a vaccine) into to protect against or treat a disease

History for inoculate

Similar to the way that we use “eye” for the undeveloped bud on a potato, the Romans used the Latin word oculus, “eye,” to mean “bud of a plant.” Having learned that the oculus or bud from one plant can be grafted onto another, the Romans derived the verb inoculare from oculus to refer to the process of grafting. English borrowed this verb as inoculate with the same meaning. Introducing a small amount of material to make a person immune to a disease is like implanting a bud, so the verb inoculate was also used for this procedure.