Oncoviruses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of virus that has the potential to induce tumors in host organisms
2. viruses known for their involvement in cancer development through alteration of cellular mechanisms
3. a group of viruses classified for their ability to cause malignancies in various species

Etymology: Oncoviruses are viruses that can cause cancer, and the word is a plain compound: "onco-", from the Greek "onkos", meaning "mass" or "bulk" and used in medicine for tumours, joined to "virus", the Latin word for poison or slime. Its parts are transparent, so the word reads almost like a description of what it names. The plural "oncoviruses" is simply the regular plural of "oncovirus", so the same two elements apply. The prefix "onco-" appears in other medical terms such as "oncology", the study of tumours, and it is the source of much of the vocabulary used in cancer research.