I. ˈvīrəs noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin, slimy liquid, poison, stench; akin to Old English wāse mire, marsh, Old Frisian wase mud, Old Norse veisa swamp, Greek ios poison, Sanskrit veṣati it flows away, viṣa poison
1. archaic : venom emitted by a poisonous animal
2.
[New Latin, from Latin]
a. : the causative agent of an infectious disease : disease germ
b. : filterable virus ; specifically : any of a large group of submicroscopic infective agents that are regarded either as the smallest microorganisms or extremely complex molecules and are composed typically of a protein coat surrounding an RNA or DNA core of genetic material, that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in man, animals, or plants (as mumps, rabies, or tobacco mosaic) — see bacteriophage , fixed virus , street virus
c. : virus disease 1
has recovered from a virus which confined her to her home — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
3. : a morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions : something that poisons the mind or soul
these particular officials affect the public service with an undemocratic virus — Taylor Cole
the force of this virus of prejudice — V.S.Waters
4.
[New Latin, from Latin]
: an antigenic but not infective material (as vaccine lymph) obtainable from a case of an infectious disease
Synonyms: see microorganism , poison
II. noun
: a computer program that is usually hidden within another seemingly innocuous program, that produces copies of itself and inserts them into other programs, and that usually performs a malicious action (as destroying data) — compare trojan horse herein