Etymology of Taxon Names
The information below provides a list containing descriptions of the origins of ICTV taxon names starting at the rank of realm and going down to the rank of family. This information is derived from the proposals that were submitted when each taxon was created. Links to these proposals, links to ICTV report chapters, and links to publications (through PMIDs) are provided when available.
We thank Stuart Siddell for compiling this list of name origins. Etymological information for taxa below the rank of family, can be found in the relevant ICTV Online (10th) Report chapters. If you have any comments or corrections, please contact us by sending an email to info@ictv.global.
Please select the virus realm containing your taxa of interest:
Realm: Adnaviria
from A-form DNA characteristic of viruses in this realm; the suffix ‑viria for realm taxa
to honour Wolfram Zillig, a pioneer of research on hyperthermophilic archaeal viruses; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
from the Latin talea, meaning “rod”, referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the phylum; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the Georgian toki ( თოკი ), meaning “thread”, referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the class; the suffix ‑viricetes for class taxa
from the Latin ligamen, meaning “string, thread”, referring to the virion morphology of virses in the order; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Greek lipothrix, meaning "fat hair", referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin rudi, meaning "small rod", referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin ungula, meaning "claw", referring to the claw-like structures decorating the termini of the virions of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Maximon, a god of travelers, merchants, mecidine men/women, mischief and fertility in Mayan mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear
from Ah Mun, the god of agriculture in Mayan mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
from the Latin prima, meaning “first”, referencing the fact that Thermoproteus tenax virus 1, which is classified in this order, was the first hyperthermophilic archaeal virus to be isolated (in 1983); the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Ancient Greek τρι- (tria) meaning "three" and στρῶμα (stroma), meaning "layer", referring to a virion tripartite shell consisting of two protein layers and an external envelope; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
Realm: Duplodnaviria
from the Latin dūplō, meaning double and DNA, referencing the fact that all founding members of the realm have double-stranded dsDNA genomes; the suffix -viria for realm taxa
from the Cantonese 香港 (Hēunggóng), meaning (and approximately pronounced) Hong Kong—a reference to Escherichia coli phage HK97, the founding member of the HK97 (Hong Kong 97)-fold major capsid protein viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
from the name of a higher-rank taxon proposed by Lwoff and Tournier in 1966 (“Peplovirales”; from the Greek πέπλος (peplos)), meaning garment, referencing the unique tegument of herpesviruses; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from herpesvirus; referring to the herpesviruses, members of the class; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters, with the addition of the consonant s; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), meaning "other" and ἕρπης (hérpō), which is related to the meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós), meaning ‘soft’ and used in zoology to denote molluscs, and the Ancient Greek: ἕρπης (hérpō), which is related to the meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek ὀρθός (orthos), meaning “correct” or “straight”, and ἕρπης (hérpō), which is related to the meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the name of a higher-rank taxon for tailed phages proposed by Lwoff and Tournier in 1966 (“Urovirales”; from the Greek οὐρά (ourá/uros)), meaning tail; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the Latin caudo, meaning tail; referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the prototypical uncultured virus, crAssphage, this name derived from the software tool crAss for cross-assembly analysis; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Bosnian creva, meaning "intestine", signifying that members of the family are highly abundant in mammalian gut, particularly, in humans; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin intestīnus meaning "internal", signifying that members of the family are highly abundant in the mammalian gut, particularly, in humans; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Irish stéig, meaning "intestine", signifying that members of the family are highly abundant in mammalian gut, particularly, in humans; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Finnish suolet, meaning "intestine", signifying that members of the family are highly abundant in mammalian gut, particularly, in humans; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Lithuanian word jūra, meaning "sea"; referring to the marine archaeal viruses in the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
truncation of Yangshan and gang , meaning "harbour" in Chinese, referring to the sampling location of marine archaeal host of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
truncation of Yangshan and luka, meaning "harbour" in Chinese and Croatian, referring to the sampling location of marine archaeal host of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Finnish kirjomeaning "versatility" or "variety"; from the Finnish kansi meaning "cover", a magical object in Finnish mythology which brought riches and happiness including salt to its holder, referring to the haloarchaeal hosts of viruses in the order; the suffix -virales for order taxa
From the Finnish graavi, meaning raw cooking of fish with salt, referring to the hyperhalophilic archaeal hosts of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
referring to Haloferax and Halorubrum. sp., hosts to viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Finnish pyrstö, for "fish tail", referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from short tail, referring to the virion morhology of viruses in the family, and French sel meaning "salt", referring to the haloarchaeal host; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
truncation of Marine Group II Euryarchaeota, the historical name of Poseidoniales archaea; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from Aoguang, the Dragon King of the East China Sea in ancient Chinese myths and legends; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
truncation of Methanobacteriales, referring to the host of the viruses; the suffix -virales for order taxa
a truncation of anaerobic digester, referring to the source of isolation for a virus in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
to honour the Swiss microbiologist Thomas Leisinger, who isolated the virus psiM2; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Nakon, the most powerful god of war in Mayan mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear
from Ah Puch, the god of death in the Mayan mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
from Ek Chuah, the patron god of warriors and merchants in the Mayan mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
from Thumleima, the goddess and the female personification of salt, and natural salt brines in Meitei mythology, referring to the haloarchaeal hosts of viruses in the order; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Lithuanian druska, meaning "salt", referring to the hyperhalophilic archaea of the genus Haloarcula, hosts to viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
referring to Halophage HF1 virus (with "una" for "1"), the first isolated representative virus of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Greek prefix halo, meaning "salt", and the Latin magnus meaning "large", referring to the fact that Halogranum tailed virus 1 has by far the largest genome among known haloarchaeal viruses; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
truncation of solar saltern, an artifical shallow pond for the production of NaCl, and the location Eilat, Israel, where Haloarcula tailed virus 2, a member of the family, was isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
to honour Hans-Wolfgang Ackermann, a German microbiologist, former life member of ICTV, a pioneer of electron microscopy and the taxonomy of prokcaryotic viruses; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from a host of Olleya phage Harreka 1, namely Olleya sp., which is mainly found in aggregates; the suffix -viridae for family taxa