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 Realm of interest:
Realm: Unassigned
from the Latin globulus, meaning “small ball”, referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from the Latin gutta, meaning "drop", referring to the droplet-shaped virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from halophilic, referring to the halophilic archaeal hosts of viruses in the family and spindle-shaped, referring to virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from Huangdi, the legendary Chinese sovereign often associated with important inventions; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from Itzamna, Lord of the Heavens as well as night and day in the Mayan mythology; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
from the deduced host Nitrosopumilaceae and from the Latin fusi meaning spindles referring to the the possible morphology; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from the Latin obscurus, meaning ambiguous or uncertain, referring to unresolved status of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin ovalis, meaning "egg shaped", referring to the virion capsid architechture of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek πλάσμα (plásma), meaning “something formed”, referring to the plastic virion shape of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek πολύς (polús), meaning “many" and DNA for deoxyribonucleic acid, referring to the multiple segments of dsDNA genomes of agents in the family; the suffix -viriformidae is used for viriform family taxa
from the Latin portare, meaning ‘to carry’ and globus, meaning ‘a ball’, referring to the round shape of the nucleoprotein virion core of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from a member of the family, potato spindle tuber viroid, an infectious agent consisting only of naked RNA; the suffix -viroidae for viroid family taxa
from the host order name Rhodobacterales and gene transfer agent; the suffix -viriformidae is used for viriform family taxa
from the Latin spira, meaning “coil”, referring to virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from thaumarchaeal and spindle-shaped virus, referring to the host and virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa
from tomato leaf curl virus satellite, the first DNA satellite shown to be associated with geminiviruses and the Latin satellit, meaning "attendent", referring to mobile genetic elements that are dependent upon a helper virus to spread. The suffix -satellitidae is used for satellite family taxa