Virus Definition

vīrəs

viruses

noun

viruses

Venom, as of a snake.

Webster's New World

Any of various infectious agents, usually ultramicroscopic, that consist of nucleic acid, either RNA or DNA, within a case of protein: they infect animals, plants, and bacteria and reproduce only within living cells: viruses are considered as being nonliving chemical units or sometimes as living organisms.

Webster's New World

A disease caused by a virus.

Webster's New World

Anything that corrupts or poisons the mind or character; evil or harmful influence.

Webster's New World

An unauthorized, disruptive set of instructions placed in a computer program, that leaves copies of itself in other programs and disks.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

pronoun

The taxonomic kingdom made up of the viruses.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Virus

Noun

Singular:

virus

Plural:

viruses

Origin of Virus

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

From Wiktionary
Latin virus (“venom or poison").

From Wiktionary
Latin vīrus poison

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition