Mpox

//ˈɛm.pɒks// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A viral disease, of primates and some other mammals, related to smallpox, caused by Orthopoxvirus monkeypox. uncountable

    "Ebola reared its ugly head anew, including recently in Uganda. Mpox spread in strange new ways. Measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses are making a comeback."

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of mpox. alt-of, uncountable
  3. 3
    Alternative form of mpox. alt-of, alternative, uncountable
  4. 4
    Alternative form of mpox. alt-of, alternative, uncountable

Example

More examples

"Ebola reared its ugly head anew, including recently in Uganda. Mpox spread in strange new ways. Measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses are making a comeback."

Etymology

Clipping of monkeypox coined in 2022, chosen in order to discourage racist and stigmatizing interpretations of that word. Coined by Montreal-based RÉZO, in consultation with other Canadian organizations, in parallel with the effort to change the French term. More at Wikipedia (mpox § Nomenclature).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.