virus

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

Languages (28)

English

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Page categories

English

The virions that carry the Marburg virus

Etymology

PIE word
*wisós

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *weizos

Latin vīrusbor.

Middle English virus

English virus

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/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɹəs

Noun

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

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

   • 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 64:

     Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.

   • 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.

   1. A species thereof.

      Meronym: virion (individual particle)

      Some viruses, such as norovirus, cause sporadic outbreaks of gastroenteritis.

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

      Under electron microscopy, a few viruses were seen floating near the cells.

3. (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)‎^[1] (non-fiction), Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, archived from the original on 2 September 2021, page xviii:

     Unless professionally inspected, they [plants] 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.

4. (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.

5. (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.

6. (computing) A type of malware which can covertly transmit itself between computers via networks (especially the Internet) or removable storage such as disks by inserting its code into other executable files, often causing damage to systems and data; also computer virus.
   • 2004 November 15, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Strong Bad Email #118: virus”, in Homestar Runner‎^[2], spoken by Strong Bad (Matthew Chapman):

     Wait a minute! Is this one of those virus emails?!

7. (computing, proscribed) Any type of malware.
8. (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

• (computing): malware

Hyponyms

Computing

• antivirus
• cryptovirus

Virology

• adeno-associated virus
• African swine fever virus
• BK virus
• black queen cell virus
• Bourbon virus
• Bundibugyo virus
• B virus
• camelpox virus
• canine distemper virus
• CCP virus
• China virus
• Chinese virus
• Chronic bee paralysis virus
• chronic bee paralysis virus
• cloudy wing virus
• corona virus
• coronavirus
• corona-virus
• cowpox virus
• crown virus
• cucumber mosaic virus
• cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus
• deformed wing virus
• DNA virus
• Dobrava-Belgrade virus
• Ebola virus
• Epstein-Barr virus
• GB virus C
• giant virus
• Grampus griseus endogenous virus
• helper virus
• hepatitis delta virus
• herpes simplex virus
• HIV virus
• Hosta virus X
• human immunodeficiency virus
• human immunodeficiency virus 1
• human immunodeficiency virus 2
• idea virus
• Jamestown Canyon virus
• JC virus
• Junin virus
• Kakugo virus
• Kunjin virus
• Lassa virus
• Machupo virus
• macro virus
• Marburg virus
• Marburg virus disease
• mosaic virus
• Neethling virus
• Nipah virus
• Norwalk virus
• passenger virus
• plum pox virus
• potato virus X
• Qalyub virus
• rat virus
• respiratory syncytial virus
• Reston virus
• rhinovirus
• RNA virus
• Ross River virus
• Rous sarcoma virus
• Schmallenberg virus
• Sendai virus
• Shope papilloma virus
• simian immunodeficiency virus
• sugarcane mosaic virus
• Tulane virus
• tulip-breaking virus
• varicella zoster virus
• walleye epidermal hyperplasia virus
• West Nile virus
• Wuhan virus
• Zika virus

Derived terms

Virology

Derived terms

• adenovirus
• AIDS virus
• alpharetrovirus
• antiviral
• bacteriovirus
• baculovirus
• badnavirus
• becurtovirus
• bidnavirus
• birnavirus
• brain virus
• carcinovirus
• cardiovirus
• Choclo virus
• countervirus
• coxsackievirus
• curtovirus
• cyclovirus
• cytomegalovirus
• Ebola virus disease
• encephalovirus
• enterovirus
• entomovirus
• Four Corners virus
• frankenvirus
• girus
• halovirus
• helpervirus
• hepatitis A virus
• hepatitis B virus
• hepatitis C virus
• hepatitis D virus
• hepatitis E virus
• hepatitis G virus
• hungarovirus
• hypovirus
• immunovirus
• influenzavirus
• intervirus
• leukaemiavirus
• lymphocryptovirus
• macrovirus
• megavirus
• microvirus
• mimivirus
• mind virus
• Muerto Canyon virus
• mycovirus
• myxovirus
• neurovirus
• nonvirus
• omicron virus
• Omicron virus
• oncovirus
• palaeovirus
• paleovirus
• papillomavirus
• parainfluenzavirus
• paramyxovirus
• parvovirus
• phycovirus
• phytovirus
• pneumovirus
• poliovirus
• polyomavirus
• poxvirus
• protovirus
• provirus
• pseudovirus
• retrovirus
• ribodeoxyvirus
• ribovirus
• sigmavirus
• spiravirus
• subvirus
• supervirus
• tetravirus
• trichovirus
• ultravirus
• viral
• viricide
• viriome
• virion
• viroid
• virokine
• virome
• virosis
• virous
• viruscide
• virusemia
• virusless
• viruslike
• virusoid
• virusproof
• virus-proof
• virussy
• woke mind virus

Descendants

• → Amharic: ቫይረስ (vayräs)
• → Bengali: ভাইরাস (bhairaś)
• → Burmese: ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (buing:rapc)
• → Dhivehi: ވައިރަސް (vairas)
• → Japanese: バイラス
• → Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (vairas)
• → Korean: 바이러스 (baireoseu)
• → Lao: ໄວຣັສ (wai ras)
• → Malay: virus
• → Malayalam: വൈറസ് (vaiṟasŭ)
• → Maltese: vajrus
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਵਾਇਰਸ (vāiras)

  Shahmukhi script: وائرس (vā'irs)

• → Sinhalese: වෛරස (wairasa)
• → Tagalog: virus
• → Telugu: వైరస్ (vairas)
• → Thai: ไวรัส (wai-rát)
• → Urdu: وائرس
• → Welsh: feirws

Translations

infectious organism

• Afrikaans: virus (af)
• Albanian: virus (sq) m
• 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 (⁶bin-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
• Frisian:

  North Frisian: Wiirus m or f (Sylt)

  West Frisian: firus n

• Galician: virus (gl) m
• Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi)
• German: Virus (de) n or m

  Alemannic German: virus

• 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 (vıyruws)
• Khmer: វីសាណូ (viisaanou), វីរុស (viiruh), មេរោគ (mei rook)
• Korean: 바이러스 (ko) (baireoseu), 병독(病毒) (byeongdok), 비루스 (ko) (biruseu) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: vîrûs (ku)

• Kyrgyz: вирус (virus)
• Ladino: virus m
• Lao: ໄວລັສ (wai las), ໄວຣັສ (wai ras), ເຊື້ອ (sư̄a)
• Latin: vīrus n
• Latvian: vīruss m
• Limburgish: virus (li) n
• Lithuanian: virusas (lt) m
• Low German:

  East Frisian Low German: wiirus m

• Macedonian: вирус m (virus)
• Malay: virus (ms)
• Malayalam: വൈറസ് (ml) (vaiṟasŭ)
• Maltese: vajrus m
• Māori: huaketo, wheori
• Marathi: विषाणू m (viṣāṇū), व्हायरस m (vhāyras)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: вирус (mn) (virus)

  Mongolian script: ᠸᠢᠷᠦ᠋ᠰ (wirüs)

• Nepali: भाइरस (ne) (bhāiras), विषाणु (bisāṇu)
• Newar: विषाणु (wiṣāṇu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: virus n

  Nynorsk: virus (nn) n

• Occitan: virus (oc) m
• Odia: ଭୂତାଣୁ (bhutāṇu)
• Pashto: ويروس m (wirús)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: ویروس (fa) (virus), ویش (viš)

• Polish: wirus (pl) m
• Portuguese: vírus (pt) m
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਵਿਸ਼ਾਣੂ m (viśāṇū)

• Quechua: añaw, ch'iñi khuru
• Romanian: virus (ro) n
• Russian: ви́рус (ru) m (vírus)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ви́рус m

  Latin: vírus (sh) m

• Sinhalese: වෛරස (si) (wairasa)
• Slovak: vírus (sk) m
• Slovene: virus (sl) m
• Southern Altai: југуш ооруныҥ кӧскӧ кӧрӱнбес микроб (ǰuguš oorunïŋ köskö körünbes mikrob), вирус (virus)
• 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: حُمَہ m (huma), وائِرَس (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)

disease

• Finnish: virus (fi), virustauti (fi)
• Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi)
• Hebrew: מַגֵּפָה (he) f (magefá)
• Malay: virus (ms)
• Welsh: firws (cy) m, feirws (cy) m
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} איבערגאַנג m (ibergang)

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 (kompjútăren vírus)
• Burmese: ကွန်ပျူတာ ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (kwanpyuta buing:rapc), ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (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, 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 (fr) m, virus (fr) m
• Galician: virus (gl) m
• Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi), კომპიუტერული ვირუსი (ḳomṗiuṭeruli virusi)
• German: Computervirus (de) m or n, Virus (de) m or n
• Greek: ιός (el) m (iós)
• Hebrew: וִירוּס (he) m (vírus), וִירוּס מַחְשֵׁב m (vírus makhshév)
• Hindi: वाइरस m (vāiras)
• Hungarian: számítógépes vírus (hu), számítógépvírus (hu)
• Icelandic: tölvuveira (is) f, veira (is) f
• Japanese: コンピューターウイルス (konpyūtā uirusu)
• Kazakh: компьютерлік вирус (kompʹyuwterlik vıyruws), вирус (vıyruws)
• Khmer: មេរោគកុំព្យូទ័រ (meirookkompyuutɔə), វីរុស (viiruh)
• Korean: 컴퓨터 바이러스 (keompyuteo baireoseu)
• Kyrgyz: компьютердик вирус (kompyuterdik virus), вирус (virus)
• Limburgish: virus (li) n
• Macedonian: сметачки вирус m (smetački virus), вирус m (virus)
• Malay: virus komputer
• Māori: ngārara rorohiko, wheori
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: datavirus n, virus n

  Nynorsk: datavirus n, virus (nn) n

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: ویروس (fa) (virus), ویروسِ رایانِه‌ای (virus-e râyâne-i)

• Polish: wirus komputerowy m, wirus (pl) m
• Portuguese: vírus (pt) m, vírus de computador m
• Punjabi: ਕੰਪਿਊਟਰ ਵਾਇਰਸ m (kampiūṭar vāiras)
• 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, vírus (sk) m
• Slovene: računalniški virus m, virus (sl) m
• Southern Altai: вирус (virus)
• Spanish: virus (es) m
• Swedish: datorvirus (sv), datavirus (sv), virus (sv)
• Tagalog: salot (tl), birus ng kompyuter, birus
• Tajik: вируси роёнаӣ (virus-i royonayi), вирус (tg) (virus)
• Thai: ไวรัส (th) (wai-rát), ไวรัสคอมพิวเตอร์
• Turkish: virüs (tr), bilgisayar virüsü
• Ukrainian: ві́рус m (vírus), комп'ю́терний ві́рус m (kompʺjúternyj vírus)
• Uzbek: kompyuter virusi, virus (uz)
• 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)

1. (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

• 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

Declension of virus

	singular	plural
nominative	virus	viruslar
definite accusative	virusu	virusları
dative	virusa	viruslara
locative	virusda	viruslarda
ablative	virusdan	viruslardan
definite genitive	virusun	virusların

Possessive forms of virus

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusum	viruslarım
sənin (“your”)	virusun	virusların
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusu	virusları
bizim (“our”)	virusumuz	viruslarımız
sizin (“your”)	virusunuz	viruslarınız
onların (“their”)	virusu or virusları	virusları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusumu	viruslarımı
sənin (“your”)	virusunu	viruslarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusunu	viruslarını
bizim (“our”)	virusumuzu	viruslarımızı
sizin (“your”)	virusunuzu	viruslarınızı
onların (“their”)	virusunu or viruslarını	viruslarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusuma	viruslarıma
sənin (“your”)	virusuna	viruslarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusuna	viruslarına
bizim (“our”)	virusumuza	viruslarımıza
sizin (“your”)	virusunuza	viruslarınıza
onların (“their”)	virusuna or viruslarına	viruslarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusumda	viruslarımda
sənin (“your”)	virusunda	viruslarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusunda	viruslarında
bizim (“our”)	virusumuzda	viruslarımızda
sizin (“your”)	virusunuzda	viruslarınızda
onların (“their”)	virusunda or viruslarında	viruslarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusumdan	viruslarımdan
sənin (“your”)	virusundan	viruslarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusundan	viruslarından
bizim (“our”)	virusumuzdan	viruslarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	virusunuzdan	viruslarınızdan
onların (“their”)	virusundan or viruslarından	viruslarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	virusumun	viruslarımın
sənin (“your”)	virusunun	viruslarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	virusunun	viruslarının
bizim (“our”)	virusumuzun	viruslarımızın
sizin (“your”)	virusunuzun	viruslarınızın
onların (“their”)	virusunun or viruslarının	viruslarının

Further reading

• “virus” in Obastan.com.

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. virus

Hyponyms

• arborvirus
• coronavirus
• norovirus
• provirus
• rinovirus
• rotavirus
• rubivirus

Related terms

• viral
• víric
• virologia

Further reading

• “virus”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Cornish

Etymology

Borrowed from English virus, from Latin vīrus, from Proto-Italic *weizos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“poison”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

virus m (plural virusys)

1. virus

References

• “virus” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.
• 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

Declension of virus

	singular	plural
nominative	virus	viruslar
genitive	virusnıñ	viruslarnıñ
dative	virusqa	viruslarğa
accusative	virusnı	viruslarnı
locative	virusta	viruslarda
ablative	virustan	viruslardan

References

• “virus”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

Czech

Alternative forms

• vir

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *weizos

Latin vīrusbor.

Czech virus

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

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

Related terms

adjectives

• antivirový
• virální
• virologický
• virový
• virusový

nouns

• virolog
• virologie

verbs

• odvirovat
• zavirovat

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 Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

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/

• Audio:

  (file)

• 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

• computervirus
• coronavirus
• ebolavirus
• griepvirus
• herpesvirus
• marburgvirus
• norovirus
• viraal
• virusdeeltje
• virusdrager
• virusinfectie
• virusremmer
• virusvariant
• virusvrij
• westnijlvirus

Related terms

• viroloog

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

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

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
abessive		viruksetta	viruksitta
instructive		—	viruksin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of virus (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative virukseni virukseni accusative nom. virukseni virukseni gen. virukseni genitive virukseni virusteni viruksieni partitive virustani viruksiani inessive viruksessani viruksissani elative viruksestani viruksistani illative virukseeni viruksiini adessive viruksellani viruksillani ablative virukseltani viruksiltani allative virukselleni viruksilleni essive viruksenani viruksinani translative viruksekseni viruksikseni abessive viruksettani viruksittani instructive — — comitative — viruksineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative viruksesi viruksesi accusative nom. viruksesi viruksesi gen. viruksesi genitive viruksesi virustesi viruksiesi partitive virustasi viruksiasi inessive viruksessasi viruksissasi elative viruksestasi viruksistasi illative virukseesi viruksiisi adessive viruksellasi viruksillasi ablative virukseltasi viruksiltasi allative viruksellesi viruksillesi essive viruksenasi viruksinasi translative virukseksesi viruksiksesi abessive viruksettasi viruksittasi instructive — — comitative — viruksinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative viruksemme viruksemme accusative nom. viruksemme viruksemme gen. viruksemme genitive viruksemme virustemme viruksiemme partitive virustamme viruksiamme inessive viruksessamme viruksissamme elative viruksestamme viruksistamme illative virukseemme viruksiimme adessive viruksellamme viruksillamme ablative virukseltamme viruksiltamme allative viruksellemme viruksillemme essive viruksenamme viruksinamme translative virukseksemme viruksiksemme abessive viruksettamme viruksittamme instructive — — comitative — viruksinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative viruksenne viruksenne accusative nom. viruksenne viruksenne gen. viruksenne genitive viruksenne virustenne viruksienne partitive virustanne viruksianne inessive viruksessanne viruksissanne elative viruksestanne viruksistanne illative virukseenne viruksiinne adessive viruksellanne viruksillanne ablative virukseltanne viruksiltanne allative viruksellenne viruksillenne essive viruksenanne viruksinanne translative virukseksenne viruksiksenne abessive viruksettanne viruksittanne instructive — — comitative — viruksinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative viruksensa viruksensa accusative nom. viruksensa viruksensa gen. viruksensa genitive viruksensa virustensa viruksiensa partitive virustaan virustansa viruksiaan viruksiansa inessive viruksessaan viruksessansa viruksissaan viruksissansa elative viruksestaan viruksestansa viruksistaan viruksistansa illative virukseensa viruksiinsa adessive viruksellaan viruksellansa viruksillaan viruksillansa ablative virukseltaan virukseltansa viruksiltaan viruksiltansa allative virukselleen viruksellensa viruksilleen viruksillensa essive viruksenaan viruksenansa viruksinaan viruksinansa translative viruksekseen virukseksensa viruksikseen viruksiksensa abessive viruksettaan viruksettansa viruksittaan viruksittansa instructive — — comitative — viruksineen viruksinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• antivirusohjelma
• bakulovirus
• ebolavirus
• flunssavirus
• hepatiittivirus
• herpesvirus
• HI-virus
• influenssavirus
• makrovirus
• mosaiikkivirus
• papilloomavirus
• poliovirus
• rokkovirus
• syylävirus
• syöpävirus
• tietokonevirus
• tuhkarokkovirus
• vesirokkovirus
• vihurirokkovirus
• viruksentorjuntaohjelma
• virushepatiitti
• virusinfektio
• viruslinko
• virusmuunnos
• virusohjelma
• virusoppi
• virusperäinen
• virusripuli
• virussuojaus
• virustartunta
• virustauti
• virustentorjuntaohjelma
• virustorjunta

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 4 July 2023

Anagrams

• virsu

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.ʁys/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. virus

Derived terms

• coronavirus
• virus à ADN
• virus à ARN
• virus informatique

Descendants

• → Khmer: វីរុស (viiruh)
• → Vietnamese: vi-rút

Further reading

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

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *weizos

Latin vīruslbor.

Galician virus

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 (plural virus-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

6. (figurative) any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.

Hyponyms

Computing

• virus komputer (“computer virus”)

Virology

• virus korona (“corona virus”)
• virus mosaik (“mosaic virus”)
• virus utuh (“virus (in quantity)”)

Derived terms

• bervirus (“viral, containing virus”)

Related terms

• antivirus
• viral

Further reading

• “virus”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), 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

Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

virus m (invariable)

1. (virology) virus

Further reading

• “virus”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Ladino

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvirus/

Noun

virus m

1. virus
   • 2018 February 7, Dora Niyego, “El Antisemitizmo De Oy”, in Şalom‎^[4], archived from the original on 17 February 2022:

     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, despite its nominative singular ending -us being typical of the masculine second declension, is possibly a relic of this term's inheritance from a neuter s-stem.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwiː.rʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈviː.rus]

Noun

vīrus n sg (genitive vīrī); second declension

1. venom (a poisonous substance secreted by animals or plants)

   Synonym: venēnum

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)

Usage notes

• In Classical Latin, forms other than the nominative/accusative singular are rarely used. Some Late Latin grammarians such as Pseudo-Probus and Servius treat vīrus as a defective indeclinable noun with only three cases (nominative/accusative/vocative), implying that the genitive, dative, and ablative singular inflected forms had become obsolete in their time. Martianus Capella and Priscian describe it as indeclinable without specifying in which cases it is used. An alternative genitive singular form vīrus or vīrūs is attested in the 4th-century author Ammianus Marcellinus. Some New Latin authors use the full inflection paradigm with plural forms shown below.

Declension

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

	singular
nominative	vīrus
genitive	vīrī
dative	vīrō
accusative	vīrus
ablative	vīrō
vocative	vīrus

In New Latin, sometimes declined as a second declension noun (neuter, nominative/accusative/vocative in -us), with plural.

	singular	plural
nominative	vīrus	vīra
genitive	vīrī	vīrōrum
dative	vīrō	vīrīs
accusative	vīrus	vīra
ablative	vīrō	vīrīs
vocative	vīrus	vīra

Derived terms

• vīrōsus
• vīrulentus
• vīrus corōnārium

Descendants

Descendants

• → Albanian: virus m
• → Arabic: فَيْرُوس m (fayrūs)
  • Hijazi Arabic: ڤَيْرُوس m (vayrūs)
• → Armenian: վիրուս (virus)
• → Asturian: virus m
• → Belarusian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• → Catalan: virus m
• → Czech: virus m
• → Danish: virus c or n
• → Dutch: virus n
• → English: virus
  • → Amharic: ቫይረስ (vayräs)
  • → Bengali: ভাইরাস (bhairaś)
  • → Burmese: ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (buing:rapc)
  • → Dhivehi: ވައިރަސް (vairas)
  • → Japanese: バイラス
  • → Kannada: ವೈರಸ್ (vairas)
  • → Korean: 바이러스 (baireoseu)
  • → Lao: ໄວຣັສ (wai ras)
  • → Malay: virus
  • → Malayalam: വൈറസ് (vaiṟasŭ)
  • → Maltese: vajrus
  • → Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਵਾਇਰਸ (vāiras)

    Shahmukhi script: وائرس (vā'irs)

  • → Sinhalese: වෛරස (wairasa)
  • → Tagalog: virus
  • → Telugu: వైరస్ (vairas)
  • → Thai: ไวรัส (wai-rát)
  • → Urdu: وائرس
  • → Welsh: feirws
• → Esperanto: viruso
• → Estonian: viirus
• → French: virus m
• → Finnish: virus
• → Galician: virus m
• → Georgian: ვირუსი (virusi)
• → German: Virus n or 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)
• → Maltese: vajrus m
• → Norwegian Bokmål: virus n
• → Pashto: ويروس m
• → Persian: ویروس
• → Piedmontese: vìros, vìrus m
• → Polish: wirus m anim
• → Portuguese: vírus m
• → Romanian: virus n
• → Russian: ви́рус m anim or m inan (vírus)
• → Serbo-Croatian: ви́рус m (vírus)
• → Sinhalese: වෛරස (wairasa)
• → Spanish: virus m
• → Swahili: virusi
• → Swedish: virus n
• → Tagalog: birus
• → Telugu: వైరస్ (vairas)
• → Turkish: virüs
• → Ukrainian: ві́рус m (vírus)
• → Vietnamese: vi-rút
• → Volapük: virud
• → West Frisian: firus
• → Yiddish: ווירוס m (virus)

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, 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

Limburgish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviː²ʀəs/

Noun

virus n (plural virusse, diminutive viruske)

1. (virology) virus (infectious organism)
2. (computing) virus (infectious software)

References

• “virus”, in D'n Dictionair‎^[5] (overall work in English, Dutch, and Limburgish), Limburgish Academy, 2007-present

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʋʲɪrʊs]
• Rhymes: -ɪrʊs
• Syllabification: vi̇̀‧rus

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.)

Noun

virus

1. virus

Inflection

Odd, no gradation
Nominative	virus
Genitive	virusa
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	virus	virusat
Accusative	virusa	virusiid
Genitive	virusa	virusiid
Illative	virusii	virusiidda
Locative	virusis	virusiin
Comitative	virusiin	virusiiguin
Essive	virusin
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person virusan viruseamẹ viruseamẹt 2nd person virusat viruseattẹ viruseattẹt 3rd person virusis viruseaskkạ viruseasẹt

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

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	virus	virusul	virusuri	virusurile
genitive-dative	virus	virusului	virusuri	virusurilor
vocative	virusule		virusurilor

Noun

virus m (plural viruși)

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

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	virus	virusul	viruși	virușii
genitive-dative	virus	virusului	viruși	virușilor
vocative	virusule		virușilor

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

vírus m inan (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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *weizos

Latin vīruslbor.

Spanish virus

Learned borrowing from Latin vīrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiɾus/ [ˈbi.ɾus]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾus
• Syllabification: vi‧rus

Noun

virus m (plural virus)

1. virus
   • 2023 August 22, Jamie Gumbrecht, “La FDA aprueba la primera vacuna para proteger a los recién nacidos del virus respiratorio sincitial”, in CNN en Español‎^[6], archived from the original on 11 April 2026:

     La Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Estados Unidos (FDA, por sus siglas en inglés) aprobó este lunes la primera vacuna que protege a los recién nacidos del virus respiratorio sincitial, conocido como RSV (por sus siglas en inglés).

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. computer virus

Derived terms

• antivirus
• coronavirus
• viral
• vírico
• virulento
• virus de inmunodeficiencia humana
• virus FIFA

Further reading

• “virus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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

Declension of virus

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	virus	virus
	definite	viruset	virusets
plural	indefinite	virus	virus
	definite	virusen	virusens

Hyponyms

• coronavirus
• DNA-virus
• immunbristvirus
• retrovirus
• RNA-virus
• RS-virus

Derived terms

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

Related terms

• viral

See also

• bacill
• bakterie

References

• “virus”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “virus”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “virus”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• 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): (with nativization) /ˈbajɾus/ [ˈbaɪ̯.ɾʊs]
  • Rhymes: -ajɾus
• (nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈviɾus/ [ˈviː.ɾʊs]
  • IPA^(key): (with nativization) /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, 2018