virus

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

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From Middle English virus, from Latin vīrus (“poison, slime, venom”), via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“fluidity, slime, poison”). First use in the computer context by David Gerrold in his 1972 book When HARLIE Was One.

Pronunciation

• enPR: vīʹrəs, IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/
• Rhymes: -aɪɹəs

Noun

virus (countable and uncountable, plural viruses or (rare) virusses or (rare) vira or (proscribed) viri or (proscribed) virii)

2. A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:virus

   1. A species thereof.

      Meronym: virion (individual particle)

   2. (occasionally proscribed) An individual particle thereof: synonym of virion.

3. (uncountable) A quantity of such infectious agents, considered en masse.
4. (informal, metonymic) A disease caused by such an infectious agent; a viral illness.

5. (archaic) Venom, as produced by a poisonous animal etc.
6. (computing) A type of malware which can covertly transmit itself between computers via networks (especially the Internet) or removable storage such as disks, often causing damage to systems and data; also computer virus.
7. (computing, proscribed) Any type of malware.
8. (figurative) Any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.

Hypernyms

• (computing): malware

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Amharic: ቫይረስ (vayräs)
• → Bengali: ভাইরাস (bhairaś)
• → Burmese: ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (buing:rapc)
• → Dhivehi: ވައިރަސް (vairas)
• → Hindi: वायरस (vāyras)
• → Japanese: バイラス (bairasu)
• → Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (vairas)
• → Korean: 바이러스 (baireoseu)
• → Lao: ໄວຣັສ (wai rat)
• → Malay: virus
• → Malayalam: വൈറസ് (vaiṟasŭ)
• → Maltese: vajrus
• → Sinhalese: වෛරස (wairasa)
• → Telugu: వైరస్ (vairas)
• → Thai: ไวรัส (wai-rát)
• → Urdu: وائرس

Translations

Verb

virus (third-person singular simple present viruses, present participle virusing, simple past and past participle virused)

1. (nonstandard, rare) To send or infect an electronic device with a computer virus.

See also

• prion

Further reading

• Plural form of words ending in -us § Virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Computer virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Virus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiɾus/ [ˈbi.ɾus]
• Rhymes: -iɾus
• Syllabification: vi‧rus

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin vīrus.

Noun

virus (definite accusative virusu, plural viruslar)

1. (medicine) virus
2. (computing) computer virus

Declension

Further reading

• “virus” in Obastan.com.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbi.ɾus]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈvi.ɾus]

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. virus

Related terms

• viral
• víric

Cornish

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈviːrʏs]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈviːrɪz]

Noun

virus m (plural virusys)

1. virus

References

• Cornish-English Dictionary from Maga's Online Dictionary
• Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF) (in Cornish), 2018, published 2018, page 190

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian вирус (virus).

Noun

virus

1. (virology) virus

Declension

References

• “virus”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

Czech

Alternative forms

• vir

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪrus]

Noun

virus m inan

1. (virology) virus (a submicroscopic, non-cellular structure)
2. (computing) virus (a type of computer malware)

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

• “virus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “virus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “virus”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

Danish

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Noun

virus c or n (singular definite virussen or virusset, plural indefinite virus or virusser or vira, plural definite virussene or virusserne or viraene)

1. virus

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin vīrus. Coined in the virological sense by Martinus Beijerinck; the word had been previously used for pathogens, although not for viruses in the modern sense. The computing sense derives from English virus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviː.rʏs/
• Hyphenation: vi‧rus

Noun

virus n (plural virussen, diminutive virusje n)

1. (microbiology) virus
2. (computer science) virus (computer virus)

Usage notes

Like most Latin borrowings, this word kept its original Latin gender (neuter); it is one of the few Dutch words ending in -us which is not masculine; cf. also corpus and opus. Marginally, use as a masculine noun is sometimes erroneously encountered, indeed based on the ending.

Derived terms

Related terms

• viroloog

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋirus/, [ˈʋirus̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈʋiːrus/, [ˈʋiːrus̠] (proscribed)
• Rhymes: -irus
• Hyphenation^(key): vi‧rus

Noun

virus

1. (medicine, countable, uncountable) virus

   Viruksen voi nähdä pyyhkäisyelektronimikroskoopilla. ― You can see a virus with a scanning electron microscope.

   Onko marjoissa norovirusta? ― Is there norovirus in berries?

2. (computer security, countable) virus, computer virus

   Huomio! Tietokoneeseesi on tunkeutunut virus. ― Attention! A virus has invaded you computer.

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “virus”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

Anagrams

• virsu

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.ʁys/

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus

Derived terms

Further reading

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

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus (“poison, slime, venom”).

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. virus (pathogen)
2. computer virus

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch virus, from Latin vīrus (“poison, slime, venom”), via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“fluidity, slime, poison”). Doublet of bisa. The computing sense is a semantic loan from English virus.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈvirus/ [ˈfi.rʊs]
• Rhymes: -irus
• Syllabification: vi‧rus

Noun

virus

1. virus; a type of submicroscopic infectious organism
2. virus (in quantity)

   Synonym: (uncommon) virus utuh

3. (metonymic) virus, viral illness
4. (computing) virus; a type of spreading malware
5. (computing, colloquial) virus; any type of malware

   Synonym: perangkat pembahaya

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “virus” 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.

Interlingua

Noun

virus (plural viruses)

1. virus

Related terms

• virusal

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvi.rus/
• Rhymes: -irus
• Hyphenation: vì‧rus

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. (virology) virus

Further reading

• virus in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Ladino

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvirus/

Noun

virus m

1. virus

Latin

Etymology

Via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“fluidity, slime, poison”). Cognates include Sanskrit विष (viṣá), Ancient Greek ἰός (iós, “poison”), Tocharian B wase, and Middle Irish fí. The neuter gender of this term despite its nominative singular ending in the masculine second-declension -us is possibly a relic of this term's inheritance from a neuter s-stem.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯iː.rus/, [ˈu̯iːrʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.rus/, [ˈviːrus]

Noun

vīrus n sg (genitive vīrī); second declension

1. venom (a poisonous substance secreted by animals or plants)
2. a plant- or animal-sourced substance with medicinal or magical properties
3. a liquid element that makes something taste or smell bitter or acrid
   1. (transferred sense) bitterness, acrimony (of speech, manner or disposition)
4. (New Latin) a virus (infectious organism)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter, nominative/accusative/vocative in -us), singular only.

• There is also the heteroclitic genitive singular vīrūs.
• When used in modern biology with the same meaning of English virus, a plural can be formed using the same suffixes of regular neuters of the 2nd declension (i.e., vīra, vīrōrum, vīrīs, vīra, vīrīs, vīra):

Second-declension noun (neuter, nominative/accusative/vocative plural in -a).

Synonyms

• (poison): venēnum

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Further reading

• "virus", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "virus". in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "virus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• "virus", in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “uīrus” on page 2286 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Anagrams

• rivus

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvʲɪrʊs/

Participle

vi̇̀rus

1. active adverbial past half-participle of vi̇̀rti

Malay

Etymology

From English virus, from Latin vīrus, from rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /virus/, /vajrəs/

Noun

virus (plural virus-virus)

1. virus:
   1. (biology, virology) A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure consisting of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and often causes disease in the host organism; such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms.

Northern Sami

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Noun

virus

1. virus

Inflection

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Noun

virus n (definite singular viruset, indefinite plural virus, definite plural virusa or virusene)

1. (biology, virology) virus
2. (computing) virus (computer virus) (see datavirus)

References

• “virus” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin virus.

Noun

virus n (definite singular viruset, indefinite plural virus, definite plural virusa)

1. (biology, virology) virus
2. (computing) virus (computer virus) (see datavirus)

References

• “virus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French virus, Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvirus/
• Rhymes: -irus
• Hyphenation: vi‧rus

Noun

virus n (plural virusuri)

1. (virology) virus (a submicroscopic, non-cellular structure)

Declension

Noun

virus m (plural viruși)

1. (computing) virus (a type of computer malware)

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

vírus m (Cyrillic spelling ви́рус)

1. (medicine) virus (DNA/RNA causing disease)
2. (computing) computer virus

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiɾus/ [ˈbi.ɾus]
• Rhymes: -iɾus
• Syllabification: vi‧rus

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus
2. computer virus

Derived terms

Further reading

• “virus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːrɵs/
• Rhymes: -¹iːrɵs

Noun

virus n

1. (biology, virology) virus
2. (computing) computer virus

   Synonyms: datavirus, datorvirus

Declension

Derived terms

• antivirus
• virusinfektion
• virussmitta
• virussjukdom
• virusskydd
• virusstam

Related terms

• viral

See also

• bacill
• bakterie

References

• virus in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• virus in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• virus in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Svensk MeSH

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bayrus, vayrus
• birus

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English virus, from Latin vīrus. Doublet of bisa and birus. Used due to Tagalog-English code-switching (Taglish).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈvajɾus/ [ˈvaɪ̯.ɾʊs]
  • IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈbajɾus/ [ˈbaɪ̯.ɾʊs]
  • Rhymes: -ajɾus
• (nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈviɾus/ [ˈviː.ɾʊs]
  • IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈbiɾus/ [ˈbiː.ɾʊs]
  • Rhymes: -iɾus
• Syllabification: vi‧rus

Noun

virus (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜌ᜔ᜇᜓᜐ᜔ or ᜊᜒᜇᜓᜐ᜔)

1. (biology, virology) virus

   Synonyms: birus, (neologism) haykap

2. (computing) computer virus

Further reading

• “virus”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018