# virus

Pronunciation: say "VY-ruhs" /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/

## Noun

1. A tiny infectious agent of DNA or RNA in a protein coat that can multiply only inside living cells, often causing disease; also a particular kind of it, or such particles in quantity.
   - Simple: A very tiny thing, usually much smaller than bacteria, that gets into living cells, makes copies of itself, and can cause disease.
   - _Each virus hijacks a host cell's machinery to produce new copies of itself._
   - _Unlike bacteria, a virus cannot reproduce on its own outside a living cell._
2. An illness caused by a viral infection, such as influenza, a head cold, or a stomach bug. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An illness you get from a virus, such as a cold or the flu.
   - _He picked up a virus on the flight and spent the trip in bed._
   - _Half the office came down with the same virus that winter._
3. A harmful computer program that copies itself into other programs or files and so spreads between computers; loosely, any malicious software.
   - Simple: A harmful computer program that copies itself into other files and spreads between computers, often causing damage.
   - _The company's network was crippled when a virus spread through shared drives._
   - _The virus copied itself onto every USB stick plugged into the infected laptop._
4. Any harmful or dangerous thing that spreads from one place or person to another.
   - Simple: Anything harmful that spreads from one person or place to another.
   - _Cynicism can become a virus that slowly infects an entire team._
   - _She described corruption as a virus eating away at the institution from within._

## Verb

5. To infect or attack an electronic device by sending it a computer virus. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To infect an electronic device with a harmful computer program.
   - _My roommate swears someone at the coffee shop virused his laptop over the free Wi-Fi._
   - _Someone in accounting opened a fake invoice, and within an hour half the office network was virused._

## Noun

6. Venom or poison, especially as produced by a snake or other poisonous animal. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Poison produced by an animal, such as the venom of a snake.

## Origin

Proto-Indo-European *wisós, meaning "fluidity, slime, poison," gave Proto-Italic *weizos, which became Latin vīrus ("poison, slime, venom") through rhotacism, and Middle English took over virus from Latin. The computer sense first appeared in science fiction, in Gregory Benford's 1970 story The Scarred Man and David Gerrold's 1972 novel When HARLIE Was One.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/virus (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).