rubella

noun

ru·​bel·​la rü-ˈbe-lə 

: an acute contagious viral disease that is caused by a single-stranded RNA virus (Rubivirus rubellae) and milder than typical measles but is damaging to the fetus when occurring early in pregnancy : german measles

Examples of rubella in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As a result, Japan stopped using its combination MMR vaccine in 1993 and instead made single-component shots available for measles, mumps and rubella. — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026

Monday’s announcement by the Republican president calls for separating combination shots — including the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine — into separate injections. — Matthew Perrone, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2026

Under the executive order, vaccines for diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, pertussis, HPV and varicella remain among those recommended for all children. — Gino Vicci, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

This led to similar efforts to create vaccines for mumps and rubella, which resulted in the Jeryl Lynn strain for the mumps vaccine in 1967 and the RA 27/3 strain for the rubella vaccine in 1969. — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin, feminine of rubellus reddish, from ruber red — more at red

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rubella

• brucella
• candela
• capella
• chlorella
• flagella
• glabella
• lamella
• marcella
• mustela
• novella
• patella
• predella

Kids Definition

rubella

noun

ru·​bel·​la rü-ˈbel-ə 

: german measles

Medical Definition

rubella

noun

ru·​bel·​la rü-ˈbel-ə 

: an acute contagious disease that is milder than typical measles but is damaging to the fetus when occurring early in pregnancy and that is caused by a matonavirus (Rubivirus rubellae) : german measles see maternal rubella