West Indian smallpox
- noun
- Archaic
:
viruela de las Indias Occidentales
- Historical accounts describe West Indian smallpox outbreaks as being much milder in symptoms.
Examples
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During the 18th century, West Indian smallpox was considered less deadly than other strains.
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The doctor diagnosed her with West Indian smallpox.
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Doctors studied West Indian smallpox to understand why it was not as lethal as other forms.
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In the 19th century, West Indian smallpox was a common illness.
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Doctors studied West Indian smallpox to understand why it was not as lethal as other forms.
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During the 18th century, West Indian smallpox was considered less deadly than other strains.
-
Historical accounts describe West Indian smallpox outbreaks as being much milder in symptoms.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A less serious form of smallpox that causes small sores and a mild fever
A milder form of smallpox caused by a weaker virus
A mild form of smallpox with less severe symptoms
A mild form of smallpox caused by a weaker virus strain
A mild form of smallpox that makes people less sick than usual
A mild form of smallpox caused by a weaker virus
A mild type of smallpox that usually causes less severe sickness and few deaths
How Severe
- Specialized
- Specialized
77
3.9
- Archaic
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase denotes a regional form of smallpox and is compositionally built from the geographic modifier 'West Indian' plus 'smallpox' (a disease). Place-based disease names (e.g., 'Spanish flu') are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer it refers to a variety of smallpox associated with the West Indies.
Etymology
West Indian smallpox comes from reports in the West Indies where doctors saw a milder form of smallpox, so the words West Indian point to the place and smallpox to the disease. That's why the name was used for a 'less deadly' type of smallpox.