Rubella
//ɹuːˈbɛlə// noun
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mild disease caused by the Rubella virus infecting the respiratory tract, and characterised by a rash of pink dots, fever and swollen lymph nodes. uncountable
"At issue is the so-called MMR vaccine, which immunizes children against measles, mumps and rubella, three potentially deadly diseases that were once common and have been mostly wiped out."
- 2 a contagious viral disease that is a milder form of measles lasting three or four days; can be damaging to a fetus during the first trimester wordnet
Example
More examples"Let’s take, for example the myth that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the cause of autism. This claim has been completely discredited, yet several Hollywood celebrities continue to endorse it, some backing an anti-vaccine film made by pseudo-scientists."
Etymology
From Latin rubellus (“reddish”), diminutive of ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
Related phrases
More for "rubella"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.