virus

See also: Virus, vírus, vīrus, vīruss, virüs, and -virus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus (“poison, slime, venom”). First use in the computer context by David Gerrold in his 1972 book When HARLIE Was One.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: vīʹrəs, IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪɹɪs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɹɪs

Noun

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

Wikispecies

The virions that carry the Marburg virus

1. (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.

2. 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.
   • 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:

     Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.

   • 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 64)

     Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.

3. A disease caused by these organisms.

   He caught a virus and had to stay home from school.

4. (computing) A program 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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:virus

Hypernyms

• (computing): malware

Hyponyms

• DNA virus
• RNA virus

Derived terms

• virion
• viroid
• viral

Descendants

• Japanese: バイラス (bairasu)
• Korean: 바이러스 (baireoseu)

Translations

infectious organism

• Afrikaans: virus
• Albanian: virus (sq) m
• Alemannic German: virus
• Arabic: ڤِيرُوس‎‎ m (vīrūs), فِيرُوس‎‎ m (fīrūs), حُمَة‎‎ f (ḥuma)
• Armenian: վիրուս (hy) (virus)
• Asturian: virus m
• Azerbaijani: virus (az)
• Basque: birus
• Belarusian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• Bengali: ভাইরাস (bhairas)
• Bulgarian: ви́рус (bg) m (vírus)
• Burmese: ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (buing:rapc), ရောဂါပိုးမွှား (rau:gapui:hmwa:)
• Catalan: virus (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 病毒 (beng⁶ duk⁶)

  Mandarin: 病毒 (zh) (bìngdú)

  Min Nan: 病毒 (zh-min-nan) (pēⁿ-to̍k, pīⁿ-to̍k)

• 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, m
• Greek: ιός (el) m (iós)
• Gujarati: વિષાણુ (viṣāṇu)
• Hebrew: נְגִיף‎‎ (he) m (nagíf), וִירוּס‎‎ (he) m (virus)
• Hindi: वायरस (vāyaras), विषाणु (viṣāṇu)
• 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 (bīrusu), バイラス (bairasu), 病毒 (ja) (びょうどく, byōdoku)
• Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (kn) (vairas)
• Kazakh: вирус (vïrws)
• Khmer: វីសាណូ (viisaanou), វីរុស (viiruh)
• Korean: 바이러스 (ko) (baireoseu), 병독 (byeongdok)
• Kyrgyz: вирус (virus)
• Lao: ໄວຣັສ (wai rat)
• Latin: virus n
• Latvian: vīruss m

• Lithuanian: virusas m
• Macedonian: ви́рус m (vírus)
• Malay: virus
• Malayalam: വൈറസ് (ml) (vaiṟasŭ)
• Maltese: vajrus m
• Maori: huaketo, wheori
• Marathi: विषाणू (viṣāṇū)
• Mongolian: вирус (mn) (virus)
• Nepali: विषाणु (wiṣāṇu)
• Newari: विषाणु (viṣāṇu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: virus n

  Nynorsk: virus (nn) n

• Occitan: virus m
• Pashto: ويروس‎‎ m (wirús)
• Persian: ویروس‎‎ (fa) (virus)
• Polish: wirus (pl) m
• Portuguese: vírus (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਵਿਸ਼ਾਣੂ (viśāṇū)
• Quechua: añaw, ch'iñi khuru
• Romanian: virus (ro)
• Russian: ви́рус (ru) m (vírus)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вирус m

  Roman: virus (sh) m

• Sinhalese: වෛරස (vairasa)
• Slovak: vírus 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)
• Turkish: virüs (tr)
• Turkmen: wirus
• Ukrainian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• Urdu: حُمہ‎‎ (huma), وائرس‎‎ (vāyras)
• Uzbek: virus (uz)
• Vietnamese: virus (vi), tinh độc, siêu vi trùng, siêu vi khuẩn
• Volapük: virud
• Welsh: feirws
• Yiddish: ווירוס‎‎ m (virus)

disease

• Finnish: virus (fi), virustauti

computer virus

• Arabic: فِيرُوس كَمْبْيُوتَر‎‎ m (fīrūs kambyūtar)
• Armenian: վիրուս (hy) (virus), համակարգչային վիրուս (hamakargčʿayin virus)
• Azerbaijani: virus proqramları
• Belarusian: кампу́тарны ві́рус m (kampútarny vírus)
• Bulgarian: 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 (zh), 电脑病毒 (zh) (diànnǎo bìngdú)

• Czech: počítačový virus m
• Dutch: virus (nl) n, computervirus (nl) n
• Estonian: arvutiviirus
• Faroese: virus n, telduvirus n
• Finnish: virus (fi), tietokonevirus (fi)
• French: virus informatique m
• Galician: virus (gl) m
• Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi), კომპიუტერული ვირუსი (ḳomṗiuṭeruli virusi)
• German: Computervirus (de) m, n
• Hebrew: וִירוּס מַחְשֵׁב‎‎ m (virus makhshev)
• Hungarian: számítógépes vírus, számítógépvírus (hu)
• Japanese: コンピューター・ウイルス (konpyūtā uirusu)
• Korean: 컴퓨터 바이러스 (keompyuteo baireoseu)

• Macedonian: сметачки вирус m (smetački virus)
• Maori: ngārara rorohiko
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: datavirus n, virus n

  Nynorsk: datavirus n, virus (nn) n

• Polish: wirus komputerowy m
• Portuguese: vírus (pt) m, vírus de computador m
• Romanian: virus (ro) m, virus de computer m, virus computeric m, virus informatic m
• 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 vairasa)
• 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), ไวรัสคอมพิวเตอร์
• Turkish: virüs (tr), bilgisayar virüsü
• Ukrainian: комп'ю́терний ві́рус m (kompʺjúternyj vírus)
• Vietnamese: virus máy tính

See also

• prion

Further reading

• Plural of virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Computer virus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Virus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

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Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.ɾus/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ɾus/

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus

Related terms

• viral
• víric

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Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

virus m

1. virus

Declension

Declension

	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

Related terms

• virový
• virální
• antivirový

Further reading

• virus in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• virus in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

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

1. virus

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vi‧rus

Noun

virus n (plural virussen, diminutive virusje n)

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

Usage notes

Like most Latin borrowings, this word kept its original Latin gender (neuter); it is one of the few words ending in -us which is not masculine.

Descendants

• norovirus

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Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋirus/, [ˈʋirus̠], IPA^(key): /ˈʋiːrus/, [ˈʋiːrus̠]

Noun

virus

1. virus
2. (computer security) virus

Declension

Inflection of virus (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)
nominative		virus	virukset
genitive		viruksen	virusten viruksien
partitive		virusta	viruksia
illative		virukseen	viruksiin
		singular	plural
nominative		virus	virukset
accusative	nom.	virus	virukset
	gen.	viruksen
genitive		viruksen	virusten viruksien
partitive		virusta	viruksia
inessive		viruksessa	viruksissa
elative		viruksesta	viruksista
illative		virukseen	viruksiin
adessive		viruksella	viruksilla
ablative		virukselta	viruksilta
allative		virukselle	viruksille
essive		viruksena	viruksina
translative		virukseksi	viruksiksi
instructive		—	viruksin
abessive		viruksetta	viruksitta
comitative		—	viruksineen

Anagrams

• virsu

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.ʁys/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus

Further reading

• “virus” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus (“poison, slime, venom”).

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus (pathogen)
2. computer virus

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

virus m

1. virus

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Latin

Etymology

Via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weisos, from Proto-Indo-European *weys- ("fluidity, slime, poison"). Cognates include Sanskrit विष (víṣa), Ancient Greek ἰός (iós), and Tocharian B wase.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈwiː.rus/, [ˈwiː.rʊs]

Noun

vīrus n (genitive vīrī); second declension

1. slimy liquid, slime
2. poison, venom

Declension

Second declension, nominative/accusative/vocative in -us.

Case	Singular
nominative	vīrus
genitive	vīrī
dative	vīrō
accusative	vīrus
ablative	vīrō
vocative	vīrus

• There is also the heteroclitic genitive singular vīrus.

Derived terms

• vīrōsus
• vīrulentus

Synonyms

• (poison): venēnum

Descendants

Descendants of virus in other languages

• Armenian: վիրուս (virus)
• Asturian: virus m
• Belarusian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• Catalan: virus m
• Czech: virus m
• Danish: virus c, n
• Dutch: virus n
• English: virus
  • Bengali: ভাইরাস (bhairas)
  • Dhivehi: ވައިރަސް‎ (vairas)
  • Japanese: バイラス (bairasu)
  • Korean: 바이러스 (baireoseu)
  • Lao: ໄວຣັສ (wai rat)
  • Urdu: وائرس‎
  • Thai: ไวรัส (wai-rát)
• Esperanto: viruso
• Estonian: viirus
• French: virus m
• Finnish: virus
• Galician: virus m
• Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi)
• German: Virus n, m
• Hungarian: vírus
• Ido: viruso
• Italian: virus m
• Japanese: ウイルス (uirusu), ウィルス (wirusu), ビールス (bīrusu)
• Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (vairas)
• Khmer: វីរុស (viiruh)
• Latvian: vīruss m
• Macedonian: вирус m (virus)
• Malayalam: വൈറസ് (vaiṟasŭ)
• Maltese: vajrus m
• Norwegian: virus n
• Pashto: ويروس‎ m
• Persian: ویروس‎
• Polish: wirus m anim
• Portuguese: vírus m
• Romanian: virus n
• Russian: ви́рус m anim, m inan (vírus)
• Serbo-Croatian: ви́рус m (vírus)
• Sinhalese: වෛරස (vairasa)
• Spanish: virus m
• Swahili: virusi
• Swedish: virus n
• Tagalog: birus
• Telugu: వైరస్ (vairas)
• Turkish: virüs
• Ukrainian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• Vietnamese: vi-rút
• Volapük: virud
• Yiddish: ווירוס‎ m (virus)

References

• 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, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to vent one's anger, spite on some one: virus acerbitatis suae effundere in aliquem (De Amic. 23. 87)
    
  • (ambiguous) many learned men; many scholars: multi viri docti, or multi et ii docti (not multi docti)
    
  • (ambiguous) to separate (of the woman): repudium remittere viro (Dig. 24. 3)
    
  • (ambiguous) statesmen: viri rerum civilium, rei publicae gerendae periti or viri in re publica prudentes
    
  • (ambiguous) men of rank and dignity: viri clari et honorati (De Sen. 7. 22)
    
• virus in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Anagrams

• rivus

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

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

1. a virus
2. a computer virus (see datavirus)

References

• “virus” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

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

1. a virus
2. a computer virus (see datavirus)

References

• “virus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French virus, Latin virus.

Noun

virus n (plural virusuri)

1. virus

Declension

declension of virus

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) virus	virusul	(niște) virusuri	virusurile
genitive/dative	(unui) virus	virusului	(unor) virusuri	virusurilor
vocative	virusule		virusurilor

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Serbo-Croatian

Noun

vírus m (Cyrillic spelling ви́рус)

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

Declension

Declension of virus

	singular	plural
nominative	virus	virusi
genitive	virusa	virusa
dative	virusu	virusima
accusative	virus	viruse
vocative	viruse	virusi
locative	virusu	virusima
instrumental	virusom	virusima

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus
2. computer virus

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Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virus.

Noun

virus n

1. virus