. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Wikispecies
The virions that carry the Marburg virus
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
Noun
virus (countable and uncountable , plural viruses or ( rare ) virusses or ( rare ) vira or ( proscribed ) viri or ( proscribed ) virii )
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
2001 , Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford, page 64 :Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.
A species thereof.
Meronym: virion ( individual particle )
Some viruses , such as norovirus, cause sporadic outbreaks of gastroenteritis.
( occasionally proscribed ) An individual particle thereof: synonym of virion .
Under electron microscopy, a few viruses were seen floating near the cells.
( uncountable ) A quantity of such infectious agents, considered en masse .
Not much virus was detectable on a nucleic acid test; the viral load was very low.
2006 , Norman E. Borlaug , Anthony Cunningham, Jane I. Guyer , Hans R. Herren , Calestous Juma , Akinlawon Mabogunje , Barbara Underwood, Montague Yudelman, chapter 1, in Lost Crops of Africa: Volume 2: Vegetables (U.S. National Research Council Consensus Study Report) (non-fiction), Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press , →DOI , →ISBN , →LCCN , →OCLC , →OL , archived from the original on 2021-09-02 , page xviii :Unless professionally inspected, they may also carry along unseen pests and diseases (particularly small insects and microbes such as virus or bacteria) whose populations might explode catastrophically in new locations.
( informal , metonymic ) A disease caused by such an infectious agent; a viral illness.
He's got a virus and had to stay home from school.
( archaic ) Venom , as produced by a poisonous animal etc.
1890 , Aluísio Azevedo, The Slum :Brazil, that inferno where every budding flower and every buzzing bluebottle fly bears a lascivious virus .
( 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 .
( computing , proscribed ) Any type of malware .
( figurative ) Any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.
2011 , Pat Mesiti, The $1 Million Reason to Change Your Mind :I am tired of the mind viruses that are crippling people living in the western world — especially in my own nation. Sadly, Australia is becoming known as a nation of whingers.
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
infectious organism
Afrikaans: virus (af)
Albanian: virus (sq) m
Alemannic German: virus
Amharic: ቫይረስ ( vayräs )
Arabic: ڤِيرُوس m ( vīrūs ) , فِيرُوس m ( fīrūs ) , حُمَة f ( ḥuma ) , فَيْرُوس m ( fayrūs )
Hijazi Arabic: فَيْروس m ( fayrūs, vayrūs )
Armenian: վիրուս (hy) ( virus )
Assamese: ভাইৰাছ ( bhairas )
Asturian: virus (ast) m
Azerbaijani: virus (az)
Basque: birus
Belarusian: ві́рус m ( vírus )
Bengali: ভাইরাস (bn) ( bhairaś )
Bulgarian: ви́рус (bg) m ( vírus )
Burmese: ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် ( buing:rapc ) , ရောဂါပိုးမွှား ( rau:gapui:hmwa: )
Catalan: virus (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 病毒 ( beng6 duk6 )
Eastern Min: 病毒 ( bâng-dŭk )
Hakka: 病毒 ( phiang-thu̍k )
Hokkien: 病毒 (zh-min-nan) ( pēⁿ-to̍k, pīⁿ-to̍k )
Mandarin: 病毒 (zh) ( bìngdú )
Wu: 病毒 ( 6 bin-doq)
Cornish: virus m
Czech: virus (cs) m
Danish: virus (da) c or n
Dhivehi: ވައިރަސް ( vairas )
Dutch: virus (nl) n
Esperanto: viruso
Estonian: viirus
Faroese: virus n
Finnish: virus (fi)
French: virus (fr) m
Galician: virus (gl) m
Georgian: ვირუსი ( virusi )
German: Virus (de) n or m
Greek: ιός (el) m ( iós )
Gujarati: વિષાણુ ( viṣāṇu )
Hebrew: נְגִיף (he) m ( nagíf ) , וִירוּס (he) m ( vírus )
Hindi: विषाणु m ( viṣāṇu ) , वाइरस m ( vāiras )
Hungarian: vírus (hu)
Icelandic: veira (is) f
Indonesian: virus (id) , pathik
Irish: víreas
Italian: virus (it) m
Japanese: ウイルス (ja) ( uirusu ) , ウィルス (ja) ( wirusu ) , ビールス (ja) ( bīrusu ) , バイラス ( bairasu ) , 病毒 (ja) ( びょうどく, byōdoku )
Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (kn) ( vairas )
Kazakh: вирус ( virus )
Khmer: វីសាណូ ( viisaanou ) , វីរុស ( viiruh )
Korean: 바이러스 (ko) ( baireoseu ) , 병독(病毒) ( byeongdok ) , 비루스 (ko) ( biruseu )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: vîrûs (ku)
Kyrgyz: вирус ( virus )
Ladino: virus m
Lao: ໄວຣັສ ( wai ras ) , ເຊື້ອ ( sư̄a )
Latin: vīrus n
Latvian: vīruss m
Lithuanian: virusas (lt) m
Macedonian: вирус m ( virus )
Malay: virus (ms)
Malayalam: വൈറസ് (ml) ( vaiṟasŭ )
Maltese: vajrus m
Maori: huaketo , wheori
Marathi: विषाणू m ( viṣāṇū ) , व्हायरस m ( vhāyras )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: вирус (mn) ( virus )
Mongolian: ᠸᠢᠷᠦ᠋ᠰ ( wirüs )
Nepali: भाइरस (ne) ( bhāiras ) , विषाणु ( bisāṇu )
Newar: विषाणु ( wiṣāṇu )
Northwestern Ojibwa: zenibaanh-aakoziwin
Norwegian:
Bokmål: virus n
Nynorsk: virus (nn) n
Occitan: virus (oc) m
Odia: ଭୂତାଣୁ ( bhutāṇu )
Pashto: ويروس m ( wirús )
Persian: ویروس (fa) ( virus ) , ویش sg ( vīš )
Polish: wirus (pl) m
Portuguese: vírus (pt) m
Punjabi: ਵਿਸ਼ਾਣੂ ( viśāṇū )
Quechua: añaw , ch'iñi khuru
Romanian: virus (ro) n
Russian: ви́рус (ru) m ( vírus )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ви́рус m
Roman: vírus (sh) m
Sinhalese: වෛරස (si) ( wairasa )
Slovak: vírus (sk) m
Slovene: virus (sl) m
Spanish: virus (es) m
Swahili: virusi (sw)
Swedish: virus (sv) n
Tagalog: haykap , birus
Tajik: вирус (tg) ( virus )
Tamil: தீ நுண்மம் ( tī nuṇmam )
Tatar: вирус ( wirus )
Telugu: వైరస్ ( vairas )
Thai: เชื้อ (th) ( chʉ́ʉa ) , ไวรัส (th) ( wai-rát )
Tibetan: ནད་དུག ( nad dug )
Tigrinya: ቫይረስ ( vayräs )
Turkish: virüs (tr)
Turkmen: wirus
Ukrainian: ві́рус m ( vírus )
Urdu: حُمہ ( huma ) , وائرس (ur) m ( vāiras )
Uyghur: ۋىرۇس ( wirus )
Uzbek: virus (uz)
Vietnamese: vi rút , siêu vi trùng , siêu vi khuẩn , siêu vi , vi trùng (vi) ( informal ) , tinh độc ( rare )
Volapük: virud
Welsh: firws (cy) m , feirws (cy) m
Yiddish: ווירוס m ( virus )
computer virus
Afrikaans: rekenaarvirus
Arabic: فِيرُوس m ( fīrūs ) , فَيْرُوس m ( fayrūs )
Armenian: վիրուս (hy) ( virus ) , համակարգչային վիրուս ( hamakargčʻayin virus )
Azerbaijani: virus proqramları , virus (az)
Belarusian: ві́рус m ( vírus ) , кампу́тарны ві́рус m ( kampútarny vírus )
Bulgarian: ви́рус (bg) m ( vírus ) , компю́търен ви́рус m ( kompjútǎren vírus )
Burmese: ကွန်ပျူတာ ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် ( kwanpyuta buing:rapc )
Catalan: virus (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 病毒 (zh) ( bìngdú ) , 電腦病毒 / 电脑病毒 (zh) ( diànnǎo bìngdú )
Cornish: virus m
Czech: virus (cs) m
Dutch: virus (nl) n , computervirus (nl) n
Estonian: arvutiviirus
Faroese: virus n , telduvirus n
Finnish: virus (fi) , tietokonevirus (fi)
French: virus informatique (fr) m
Galician: virus (gl) m
Georgian: ვირუსი ( virusi ) , კომპიუტერული ვირუსი ( ḳomṗiuṭeruli virusi )
German: Computervirus (de) m or n
Hebrew: וִירוּס (he) m ( vírus ) , וִירוּס מַחְשֵׁב m ( vírus makhshév )
Hindi: वाइरस m ( vāiras )
Hungarian: számítógépes vírus (hu) , számítógépvírus (hu)
Japanese: コンピューター ・ウイルス ( konpyūtā uirusu )
Khmer: មេរោគកុំព្យូទ័រ ( meirookkompyuutɔə )
Korean: 컴퓨터 바이러스 ( keompyuteo baireoseu )
Macedonian: сметачки вирус m ( smetački virus )
Malay: virus komputer
Maori: ngārara rorohiko , wheori
Norwegian:
Bokmål: datavirus n , virus n
Nynorsk: datavirus n , virus (nn) n
Polish: wirus komputerowy m , wirus (pl) m
Portuguese: vírus (pt) m , vírus de computador m
Romanian: virus (ro) n
Russian: ви́рус (ru) m ( vírus ) , компью́терный ви́рус m ( kompʹjútɛrnyj vírus )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: компјутерски вирус m , рачунални вирус m , рачунарски вирус m
Sinhalese: පරිගණක වෛරස ( parigaṇaka wairasa )
Slovak: počítačový vírus m
Slovene: računalniški virus m
Spanish: virus (es) m
Swedish: datorvirus (sv) , datavirus (sv) , virus (sv)
Tagalog: salot (tl)
Thai: ไวรัส (th) ( wai-rát ) , ไวรัส คอมพิวเตอร์
Turkish: virüs (tr) , bilgisayar virüsü
Ukrainian: ві́рус m ( vírus ) , комп'ю́терний ві́рус m ( kompʺjúternyj vírus )
Vietnamese: vi-rút , siêu vi
Welsh: firws (cy) m , feirws (cy) m
Verb
virus (third-person singular simple present viruses , present participle virusing , simple past and past participle virused )
( nonstandard , rare ) To send or infect an electronic device with a computer virus .
I'm just going to virus anyone who tries cheating on this game.
See also
Further reading
Asturian
Etymology
From Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈbiɾus/
Rhymes: -iɾus
Syllabification: vi‧rus
Noun
virus m (plural virus )
virus
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin vīrus .
Noun
virus (definite accusative virusu , plural viruslar )
( medicine ) virus
( computing ) computer virus
Declension
Further reading
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m (invariable )
virus
Cornish
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m (plural virusys )
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
( virology ) virus
Declension
References
Czech
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m inan
( virology ) virus (a submicroscopic, non-cellular structure)
( computing ) virus (a type of computer malware)
Declension
Declension of virus (hard masculine inanimate foreign )
singular
plural
nominative
virus
viry , virusy
genitive
viru , virusu
virů , virusů
dative
viru , virusu
virům , virusům
accusative
virus
viry , virusy
vocative
vire , viruse
viry , virusy
locative
viru , virusu
virech , virusech
instrumental
virem , virusem
viry , virusy
Further reading
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 )
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 )
( microbiology ) virus
( 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
Finnish
Etymology
From Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈʋirus/ ,
IPA (key ) : /ˈʋiːrus/ , ( proscribed )
Rhymes: -irus
Syllabification(key ) : vi‧rus
Hyphenation(key ) : vi‧rus
Noun
virus
( 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?
( computer security , countable ) virus , computer virus
Huomio! Tietokoneeseesi on tunkeutunut virus . ― Attention! A virus has invaded you computer.
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m (plural virus )
virus
Derived terms
Further reading
Galician
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus ( “ poison, slime, venom ” ) .
Noun
virus m (invariable )
virus (pathogen )
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
Noun
virus
virus ; a type of submicroscopic infectious organism
virus (in quantity)
Synonym: ( uncommon ) virus utuh
( metonymic ) virus , viral illness
( computing ) virus ; a type of spreading malware
( computing , colloquial ) virus ; any type of malware
Synonym: perangkat pembahaya
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Further reading
Interlingua
Noun
virus (plural viruses )
virus
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m (invariable )
( virology ) virus
Further reading
virus in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line , Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Ladino
Pronunciation
Noun
virus m
virus
2018 February 7, Dora Niyego, “El Antisemitizmo De Oy”, in Şalom :El antisemitizmo es un prejudizio, komo un virus . Antisemitism is a prejudice, like a 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
Noun
vīrus n sg (genitive vīrī ) ; second declension
venom ( a poisonous substance secreted by animals or plants )
a plant- or animal-sourced substance with medicinal or magical properties
a liquid element that makes something taste or smell bitter or acrid
( transferred sense ) bitterness , acrimony ( of speech, manner or disposition )
( 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
Derived terms
Descendants
References
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008 ) “vīrus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN , pages 682-683
^ William T. Stearn, Botanical Latin. History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary, ed. 3a (David & Charles, 1983): "Virus: virus (s.n. II), gen. sing. viri, nom. pl. vira, gen. pl. vīrorum (to be distinguished from virorum , of men)."
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
Lithuanian
Pronunciation
Participle
vi̇̀rus
active adverbial past half-participle of vi̇̀rti
Malay
Etymology
From English virus , from Latin vīrus , from rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus (plural virus-virus )
virus :
( 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
This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!
Noun
virus
virus
Inflection
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin vīrus .
Noun
virus n (definite singular viruset , indefinite plural virus , definite plural virusa or virusene )
( biology , virology ) virus
( computing ) virus (computer virus ) (see datavirus )
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin virus .
Noun
virus n (definite singular viruset , indefinite plural virus , definite plural virusa )
( biology , virology ) virus
( computing ) virus (computer virus ) (see datavirus )
References
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French virus , Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus n (plural virusuri )
( virology ) virus ( a submicroscopic, non-cellular structure )
Declension
Noun
virus m (plural viruși )
( computing ) virus ( a type of computer malware )
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Noun
vírus m (Cyrillic spelling ви́рус )
( medicine ) virus (DNA/RNA causing disease)
( computing ) computer virus
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈbiɾus/
Rhymes: -iɾus
Syllabification: vi‧rus
Noun
virus m (plural virus )
virus
computer virus
Derived terms
Further reading
Swedish
Etymology
From Latin vīrus .
Pronunciation
Noun
virus n
( biology , virology ) virus
( computing ) computer virus
Synonyms: datavirus , datorvirus
Declension
Derived terms
See also
References
Tagalog
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English virus , from Latin vīrus . Doublet of bisa and birus . Used due to Tagalog-English code-switching (Taglish ).
Pronunciation
Noun
virus (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜌ᜔ᜇᜓᜐ᜔ or ᜊᜒᜇᜓᜐ᜔ )
( biology , virology ) virus
Synonyms: birus , ( neologism ) haykap
( computing ) computer virus
Further reading
“virus ”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph , Manila, 2018