rare. [ad. med.L. variola VARIOLA.] Something resembling a small-pox marking or pustule in appearance or formation:

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  a.  Ent. A foveole or small fovea.

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1826.  Kirby & Sp., Entomol., IV. xlvi. 270. Variole,… a shallow impression like a mark of the small-pox.

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  b.  Geol. A spherular concretion of a variolite.

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1890.  Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc., XLVI. 312. The spherulites or ‘varioles’ [of the variolite-diabase] are grouped or drawn out in bands parallel to the surface.

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