Definition of: inoculation

(in·ok′yə·lā′shən) noun
1. Med. The introduction of specific disease organisms into the living tissues of animals and man, as a means of securing immunity through inducing a mild form of the disease. Inoculation may be curative, when an antitoxin is injected as a remedy, or protective, when the substance injected aims to secure immunity from disease.
2. Bot. The operation of inserting a bud in a tree for propagation.
3. Contamination; infection: the inoculation of vice.
4. The improvement of soils by introducing special micro–organisms: practiced especially in the cultivation of leguminous crops.