virus

Definition

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).

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.

Example Sentences

• "Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life."
• "Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola."
• "Meronym: virion (individual particle)"