Virales

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Relating to or caused by viruses; pertaining to the transmission of viral particles; associated with the infectious processes involving viruses
2. Connected with viruses or viral agents; involving the spread of pathogens at a microscopic level; characterizing diseases or elements derived from viruses
3. Concerning the biology or pathology of viruses; describing phenomena or conditions stemming from viral infections; linked to the mechanisms by which viruses propagate and infect hosts

Etymology: "Virales" is the plural of "viral," and the meaning shows where the story starts: in Latin, "virus" meant poison, slime or venom, with no connection to disease in the modern sense. The noun "virales" is a technical plural, used by biologists for the group of viruses as a whole, and the modern sense is much newer than the Latin. The English word "virus" was borrowed in the 1390s from Latin, where it had meant "poison" or "venom," and for centuries it kept that broad sense of any harmful substance. Only in the late 1800s did scientists begin using it for the infectious agents that passed through filters fine enough to stop bacteria, which is how the agents that became viruses were first recognised. The adjective "viral" followed in the 20th century, and the Latin-derived plural "virales" was formed in modern scientific usage to name taxonomic groupings of viruses. Its meaning is therefore a 20th-century coinage built on an ancient word for poison, not a term the Romans would have recognised.