Etymologically
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virus

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Pronunciation

Forms

virus m (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin vīrus (“plant juice; slime; venom, poison”).[2][3][4][1] In the 16th century the French surgeon Ambroise Paré used the Latin word for the contagious, corrosive pus of a wound, and, from there it entered the international vocabulary of science; in the 19th century it was applied to the submicroscopic agents of infection.[2][3][5] DEI takes the Italian word through French virus, and notes that the Latin word also survives in the old popular avvirato (“poisoned”).[5][6]

The Latin noun continues Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“poison”).[1] Its cognates include Sanskrit विष (viṣá, “poison”), Avestan vīša, Ancient Greek ἰός (iós, “poison”), Tocharian B wase, Middle Irish fí and Welsh gwy.[7][1] Latin uses the word almost only in the nominative and accusative singular, which may point to an old neuter s-stem; de Vaan cites Matasović's reconstruction of a root noun Proto-Indo-European *weys- to account for the long ⟨ī⟩.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sabatini–Coletti dates the word to 1801.[8] In 1828 it appears in Omodei, and Leone's dictionary of that year defines it as an animal poison “supposed rather than known”, held to be the agent of diseases passed on by contact.[5][6] DELI's first record, in the modern sense of a submicroscopic infectious agent, is the title of G. L. Ponza's L'inoculazione del virus pneumonico (1853).[2]

Semantic evolution

The Latin derivatives came with the word: virulento, from late Latin virulentus, is recorded in the sense “full of poison” in Florio (1598), in the medical sense in 1848, and figuratively, “full of rage”, in 1831;[2][3] virulenza was used of violent speech in 1875 and in microbiology in 1879.[2][3] Panzini recorded the figurative virus in 1931.[5] The 20th century formed virosi (1947) and virale, virologia and virologo (1961).[3][2]

Modern Italian uses the word for any pathogenic agent in everyday language, for a malicious computer program, and figuratively for a passion that spreads like a disease, such as il virus della gelosia.[4][9][8]

Timeline

  • 16th century – Ambroise Paré uses Latin virus for contagious pus.[2]
  • 1801 – Date of first record in Sabatini–Coletti.[8]
  • 1828 – Omodei and Leone use the word.[5][6]
  • 1853 – G. L. Ponza writes of a virus pneumonico.[2]
  • 1931 – Panzini records the figurative sense.[5]
  • 1947 – Virosi is recorded.[3]
  • 1961 – Virale, virologia and virologo are recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (biology) A virus: a submicroscopic infectious agent made of nucleic acid in a protein coat, which can only replicate inside a host cell: Il virus si trasmette con la saliva.[4][9][8]
  2. (common) Any agent that causes an infectious disease.[4][9]
  3. (computing) A computer virus: a program that spreads to other computers and damages data or their working: L'antivirus ha bloccato un virus nella posta.[4][9][8]
  4. (figurative) Something that spreads harmful feelings or behaviour, almost like a disease: il virus dell'invidia.[4][9][10]

Word family

  • virale
  • virologia
  • virologo
  • virologico
  • virosi
  • antivirus
  • retrovirus
  • virione
  • virulento
  • virulenza
  • Latin vīrus
  • French virus

Usage notes

The noun is masculine and does not change in the plural: i virus.[1][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4065
  6. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1057
  7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana