viral

English Online Dictionary. What means viral‎? What does viral mean?

English

Etymology

From virus +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• enPR: vī′rəl, IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪɹəl/
• Rhymes: -aɪɹəl

Adjective

viral (not comparable)

1. (virology) Of or relating to a biological virus.

2. (virology) Caused by a virus.

3. (computing) Of the nature of an informatic virus; able to spread copies of itself to other computers.
4. (advertising and marketing) Spread by word of mouth, with minimal intervention in order to create buzz and interest.
5. (social media) Circulated rapidly and widely from one user to another.

Synonyms

• virous (dated)

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

viral (plural virals)

1. (marketing) A video, image or text spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing purposes.
   • 2002, Nik Lever, Flash Mx Games: ActionScript for Artists, Focal Press, page 411,

     Using the Flash ActiveX control in this way allows you as a developer to create desktop characters, email virals and screensavers.

   • 2003, Dave Chaffey, Total E-Mail Marketing, Elsevier, page 2,

     [M]ost virals are not seen as profiling and data collection exercises, since that would kill the impulse of forwarding to a friend.

   • 2005, Russell Evans, Practical DV Filmmaking, Focal Press, page 289,

     Music company virals are becoming commonplace as costs of promos force labels to reconsider how to target more directly to consumers.

Anagrams

• Avril, arvil, rival

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [biˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [viˈɾal]

Adjective

viral m or f (masculine and feminine plural virals)

1. viral (of or relating to a biologic virus)

   Synonym: víric

2. viral (caused by a virus)

   Synonym: víric

3. viral (spread by word of mouth)

Related terms

• virus

Further reading

• “viral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “viral”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “viral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

French

Etymology

From virus +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.ʁal/

Adjective

viral (feminine virale, masculine plural viraux, feminine plural virales)

1. viral (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• charge virale

Descendants

• → Romanian: viral
• → Turkish: viral

Further reading

• “viral”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• avril, livra, rival

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viˈʁaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

viral (strong nominative masculine singular viraler, not comparable)

1. viral

Declension

Derived terms

• antiviral

Indonesian

Etymology

From English viral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈviral]
• Hyphenation: vi‧ral

Adjective

viral

1. viral:
   1. (computing, virology) of or relating to virus; caused by a virus.
   2. (advertising, marketing, social media) circulated rapidly and widely from one user to another.

Synonyms

• (social media): tular (Standard Malay)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “viral” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Etymology

From ví[rus] +‎ -al. Piecewise doublet of virusal.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: vi‧ral

Adjective

viral m or f (plural virais)

1. (microbiology) viral (relating to viruses)
2. (medicine, of a disease) viral (caused by a virus)
3. (Internet) viral (quickly attaining high popularity through word of mouth)

Related terms

• vírus
• virusal

References

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French viral. By surface analysis, vir[us] +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viˈral/

Adjective

viral m or n (feminine singular virală, masculine plural virali, feminine and neuter plural virale)

1. (biology) viral (relating to viruses)
2. (medicine, of a disease) viral (caused by a virus)
3. (Internet) viral (quickly attaining high popularity)

Declension

Synonyms

• (relating to viruses, caused by a virus): virotic

Related terms

• virus

Spanish

Etymology

From virus +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biˈɾal/ [biˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: vi‧ral

Adjective

viral m or f (masculine and feminine plural virales)

1. viral (of or relating to a biologic virus)

   Synonym: vírico

2. viral (caused by a virus)

   Synonym: vírico

3. viral (spread by word of mouth)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “viral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French viral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viˈɾɑl/
• Hyphenation: vi‧ral

Adjective

viral

1. viral

Related terms