virus Latin · revision 5458

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Lucilius|origins=ine-pro *wisós}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈwiː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vīrus''' ''n sg'' (genitive vīrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*weis-o-|t=poison]], from [[ine-pro|*weis-|t=poison]], with /s/ becoming /r/ between vowels.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that the word is almost restricted to the nominative and accusative singular, which may point to an old neuter ''s''-stem.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|विष|tr=viṣá|t=poison]], [[ae|𐬬𐬍𐬱𐬀|tr=vīša|t=poison]], [[grc|ἰός|tr=iós|t=poison]] and [[cy|gwy|t=poison]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Lucilius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the venom of snakes and other creatures, as in Cicero's ''Aratea'' and Virgil, where Jupiter gives venom to black serpents.^(OLD 2012) It also meant an acrid juice or smell in something, and a secretion of plants or bodies with medicinal or magic power, including slime and semen.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Figuratively it was the venom of a spiteful mind, as in Cicero's “let him vomit out the venom of his bitterness”.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ Medieval writers used it of the poison of heresy.^(DMLBS) English took ''virus'' in the late 14th century for a poisonous substance, then for pus from a sore, and by the 1790s for the agent of a contagious disease.^(Etymonline) It was borrowed in the same way into [[fr|virus]], [[it|virus]] and [[es|virus]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil says Jupiter gave venom to black snakes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English ''virus'' is recorded for a poison.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1790s – the medical sense “agent of a contagious disease” appears in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Venom]], [[m|en|poison]] (of snakes and other creatures).^(OLD 2012)

+ # An acrid juice or smell.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A potent secretion (of plants or the body); slime, semen.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # (figurative) Venom, malice.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vīrōsus]]

+ * [[vīrulentus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|virus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[toxicum]], poison as a term of natural history, [[venēnum]], a prepared poison, often sweet and tempting, and ''vīrus'', a harmful and foul-tasting juice.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}