Etymologically
Log in

coronavirus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word coronavirus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1968 Nature
Ultimate origin
Latin corōna,vīrus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek κορώνη
Latin corona
English corona
English coronavirus
The word's journey
From the same root
English coroner ← corona
English crown ← corona
Latin corolla ← corona
Latin coronarius ← corona

Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəˈɹəʊnəˌvaɪɹəs/[1]
  • US: /kəˈɹoʊnəˌvaɪɹəs/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English corona + virus,[2][3][4][5] which Merriam-Webster labels New Latin.[5] Its first part is from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”),[2][3][6] and its second from vīrus (“poison, slimy liquid”).[3] The viruses are named for the fringe of projections from their envelope, which under the electron microscope looks like a crown or like the solar corona during an eclipse.[4][3][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of a group of viruses with prominent projections from the envelope: 1968, in Nature of 16 November,[2][6] where eight virologists proposed the name "to recall the characteristic appearance by which these viruses are identified in the electron microscope".[6] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to 1968, and Dictionary.com to 1965–70.[5][8]

Semantic evolution

Wilton writes that the name was coined when the viruses were classified as a separate genus in 1968;[6] the OED notes that the group was formerly a genus.[2] From 2003 the word was used specifically of the coronaviruses that cause outbreaks of life-threatening respiratory disease in humans, at first the SARS outbreak,[2][6] and especially of the virus behind the pandemic that began in 2019.[2][6] Etymonline notes that Covid, a contraction of coronavirus disease, was coined for that outbreak,[3] and Collins records coronavirus as a popular name for the disease itself, COVID-19.[7] Grammarphobia explains the everyday the coronavirus as short for "the new (or novel) coronavirus", the one of current concern.[9]

Timeline

  • 1968 – a member of a group of RNA viruses named for their crown-like projections.[2][5][3]
  • 2003 – specifically, a coronavirus causing life-threatening respiratory disease in humans.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any of a family of RNA viruses with club-shaped projections from their envelope, which infect birds and many mammals, including humans, and cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS and COVID-19.[5][7][2]
  2. Specifically, the coronavirus that caused the pandemic beginning in 2019, or the disease it causes, COVID-19.[2][7]

Word family

  • rona

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f Wilton, Dave, Wordorigins.org, wordorigins.org, p. "coronavirus / COVID-19", 12 May 2020
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ O'Conner, Patricia T.; Kellerman, Stewart, The Grammarphobia Blog, grammarphobia.com, p. "‘The coronavirus’ or ‘coronavirus’?", 27 April 2020
Cite this entry

“Coronavirus.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/coronavirus. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·