A mild form of smallpox with a low mortality rate, caused by a variola virus of reduced virulence, and recognized as a distinct entity in the late 19th and early 20th cent.; also called alastrim.
Origin
1920s.
Definition of variola minor in US English:
variola minor
noun
Medicine
A mild form of smallpox with a low mortality rate, caused by a variola virus of reduced virulence, and recognized as a distinct entity in the late 19th and early 20th cent.; also called alastrim.