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: Riboviria
from fig mosaic virus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the genus name Orthohantavirus, referring to the river Hantan (South Korea) where Hantaan virus, a member of the family, was discovered; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Leishmania and bunyavirus, referring to a genus of Trypanosomatidae, that includes the host of isolation of Leptomonas moramango virus , and the order Bunyavirales, which includes the virus family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
referring to Húběi myriapoda virus 5, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Orthonairovirus, a genus in the family, referring to Nairobi (Kenya) where Nairobi sheep disease virus, a member of the family, was first isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Greek περί (perí), meaning "around", and Bunyamwera virus, a member of the family named after Bunyamwera village (Uganda) where the virus was first isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the genus name Orthophasmavirus, referring to phantom midges, host of the first isolated viruses of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Phlebovirus, referring to phlebotomine vectors of sandfly fever group viruses, derived from the Greek φλέψ (phléps), meaning “vein”, and Tenuivirus, from the Latin tenuis, meaning “thin”, describing the virion morphology of viruses in the genus; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the genus name Orthotospovirus (from tomato spotted wilt virus), a genus in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Tulasnella, the genus of the host fungus of Tulasnella bunyavirales-like virus 1, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
referring to Wǔhàn millipede virus 2, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Alphainfluenzavirus, Isavirus and Thogotovirus, three genera in the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the Latin articulata, meaning "segmented", referring to the segmented genome of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
phonetically from the Hebrew אַמְנוּן (amnun) for tilapia, referring to tilapia lake virus, a member of this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Greek ὀρθός (orthos), meaning “correct” or “straight” and the Greek μύξα, (mýxa), meaning "mucus", referring to infection of the respiratory mucosa by viruses of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area, Florida, USA, where the first member of the family was isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of picornavirus supergroup, referring to a historical name for some members of the taxon; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the Italian duplo meaning "double" (a reference to double-stranded RNA) and picobirnaviruses, members of the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the Italian duplo meaning "double" (a reference to double-stranded) and RNA for ribonucleaic acid, referring to the RNA genome of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Medieval Latin amalgama, meaning "mercury alloy", referring to the fact that viruses of the family blend (or alloy) the properties of the viruses in the Partitiviridae (re: phylogeny) and Totiviridae (re: genome organization); the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin curvus, meanimg "bent" and -ula (diminutive), referring to Curvularia protuberata, host of the first characterized virus in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the name of the original host (Fusarium graminearum) of the first virus characterized in this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from hypovirulence, referring to the fact that some members of the family can induce hypovirulence to host fungi; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Latin partitius, meaning “divided”, referring to the bisegmented dsRNA genomes of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Greek pico, meaning “small”, the Latin prefix bi, meaning “two”, and RNA for ribonucleic acid, referring to the bisegmented dsRNA viral genome of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of the names of the founding orders (Picornavirales, Sobelivirales, Nidovirales); the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the Latin nidus, meaning "nest", referencing the nested set of subgenomic mRNAs produced during replication of viruses in the taxon, with the addition of the vowel o ; the suffix -virales for order taxa
a portmanteau of Abyssoviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from the word abyss, referring to the aquatic environment where Aplysia californica, the host of Aplysia abyssovirus, lives; to the Sumerian god of watery depths Abzu, and to the discovery of Aplysia abyssovirus in an RNA transcriptome obtained by “deep” sequencing technology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Arteriviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from the name of a disease in horses, arteritis, caused by equine arteritis virus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
in part referring to Mauremys megalocephala, the host of the chinese broadheaded pond turtle arterivirus, a member of the virus family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa derivation unclear
referring to Guandong greater green snake arterivirus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
referring to Hain oligodonformosanus arterivirus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
http://www.ictv.global/report/coronaviridae
from the Latin corona, meaning “halo”, referring to the appearance of virion surface projections on viruses of the family, which create an image reminiscent of the solar corona; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Mesoniviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from the Latin medius, meaning “middle”, and Nidovirales, referring to the genome size of viruses in the family, relative to other nidoviruses; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos), meaning "middle", and Nidovirales, referring to the genome size of viruses in the family, relative to other nidoviruses; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Mononiviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from the Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos), meaning “sole" or "single”, referring to the single ORF organisation of the genome of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Nanghoshaviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
referring to Nanhai ghost shark arterivirus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
in part referring to Hyporhamphus sajori, the host of Wuhan japanese halfbeak arterivirus, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; derivation unclear
a portmanteau of Roniviridae and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from the Ancient Greek εὖ (eû), meaning “well" or "good”, and Roniviridae; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; derivation unclear
from rod-shaped nidovirus, referring to the virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of Tobaniviridae, the consonant r, and Nidovirales, two taxa in the taxon and a consonant; the suffix -virineae for suborder taxa
from Torovirus, Bafinivirus and Nidovirales, taxa that include members of this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Picornaviridae (itself from the Spanish pico, meaning "small/sharp") and RNA for ribonucleic acid, referencing the size of the RNA genome of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa