Etymology

from the Ancient Greek πολύς (polús), meaning “many" and mukēs (myco), meaning fungus, referring to the hosts of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from tobacco necrosis virus and satellite; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from ribozyme, a unique and defining component of viruses of the realm; the suffix -viria for realm taxa

from the Finnish kolmio, meaning "triangle", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Greek letter Δ δέλτα (délta), referring to the genus Deltavirus, a taxon in the family that was named after delta-antigen; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Latin singulus, meaning single, and the Latin gelata, meaning jelly (a reference to single jelly-roll capsid protein); the suffix -viria for realm taxa

from the Latin helvetia meaning "Swiss", a referring to the Swiss roll (an alternative name for jelly roll) and hence a reference to the jelly roll fold of the capsid proteins of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa

from the Esperanto divido, meaning "division", referring to the split double jelly roll (two vertical single jelly roll) major capsid protein encoded by viruses in this taxon; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa

from Serpentine Lake, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, where archaeal virus SH1, the first isolated virus of this taxon, was discovered; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from Haloarcula hispanica, the host of archaeal virus SH1, the founding member of this clade; the suffix -virales for order taxa

to honour the Japanese virologist Isao Matsushita, who isolated Thermus phage IN93, a member of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Latin simulo meaning "pretend", referring to the conclusion that genomes of the viruses in this family were first thought to be plasmids; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Latin sphaera, meaning “sphere” and the Ancient Greek λίπος (lípos), meaning “fat”, referring to virion morphology and the internal protein-rich membrane vesicle of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from various DNA viruses; the suffix -viria for realm taxa

from the Latin ab, meaning "away, removed, not", and adenain-like capsid; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa

from prokaryote, and the Latin duobus gelata, meaning "double jelly" (a reference to double jelly-roll capsid protein); the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa

from the Finnish ainoa, meaning "only" or "single", referring to the single-stranded DNA genome of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

to honor Jaana K.H. Bamford (nee Lautamo) who established phage research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from Finnish and lake, referring to the location where Flavobacterium phage FLiP, a member of the family, was isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Belfryvirales and Vinavirales; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology, equivalent to Norns in Norse mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear

from Skuld, one of the three Norns, the most powerful beings in Norse mythology that govern the lives of gods and mortals; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from belfry, a tower (turret), referencing the turret-like appendages that decorate the capsid shell of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin turris, meanimg "turret", referring to the turreted structure of the icosahedral virion of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Coyopa, the god of thunder in Mayan mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear

from Chaac, the god of rain in Mayan mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from Viña del Mar, Chile, where phage PM2, a member of the taxon, was first isolated; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Greek asemos, meaning unknown, fameless or obscure, referring to the fact that phage NO16 was found to be globally distributed as a vibrio prophage but had not been detected using standard prophage-finding tools; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Autolykos, a Greek mythological character, who was described as being difficult to catch; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

derived from the Latin cortex, meaning “crust” or “bark”, referring to the protective layer of the capsid protein in virions of viruses in the family ; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Mestra, the wife of Autolykus; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Mount Parnassus where Autolykus lived in Greek mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

to honour Dennis Bamford who first promoted the evolutionary unity of all DJR-MCP (double jelly-roll major capsid protein) viruses; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa

from nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), an unofficial name for this group of viruses; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa

from the Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "large", referring to the extremely large genome size of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from alga, referring to the hosts of many viruses in this taxon: the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Ancient Greek φῦκος (phûkos), meaning “seaweed” and DNA for deoxyribonucleic acid, referring to the host (marine or freshwater eukaryotic algae) and the dsDNA genome of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the French imiter, meaning "to mimic", referring to mimiviruses (microbe-imitating); the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), meaning "other" or "another" and Mimiviridae, referring to the evolutionary relationship between the two families; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos), meaning "middle" and Mimiviridae, referring to the evolutionary relationship of viruses in the two families; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from microbe mimicking because the large particle size of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō) meaning "split" and Mimiviridae, referring to the evolutionary relationship of viruses in the two families; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from pithoviruses, iridoviruses, marseilleviruses and ascoviruses, members of the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin ovoideum cum ore meaning "ovoid with a mouth", referring to the virion morphology; the suffix -virinae for suborder taxa

from hydrivirus; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Orpheus, a Thracian musician, poet and prophet in Greek mythology, and the addition of the vowel o; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa. Connection uncertain

from Ancient Greek πίθος (píthos) a large container, referring to the morphology of virions of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

phonetically from the Ancient Greek ἀσκός (askós), meaning "tube" or “sac”, referring to the virion-containing vesicles produced by cleavage of host cells, which are characteristic for viruses of this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Iris (iridos), the daughter of mythological Greek gods, whose sign was the rainbow, referring to the iridescent appearance of invertebrates infected with viruses of the family as well as centrifuged pellets of virions; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Marseille, the French city where Marseillevirus marseillevirus, a member of the family, was discovered; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Japanese mamono (魔物), meaning “monster”, referring to the term "giant" used to describe the genome and virions of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa