Attenuated

Weakened, diluted, thinned, reduced, weakened, diminished.

The use of 'attenuated' in medicine is not new.

In the 16th century, eating dried figs was claimed to attenuate the body fluids.</P> Now 'attenuated' refers to procedures that weaken an agent of disease (a pathogen).

An attenuated virus is a weakened, less vigorous virus.

A vaccine against a viral disease can be made from an attenuated, less virulent strain of the virus, a virus capable of stimulating an immune response and creating immunity but not causing illness.

The word 'attenuated' derives from a combination of the Latin prefix 'ad-' meaning 'to' or 'toward' and 'tenuis' meaning 'thin.'