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: Monodnaviria
to honour Frederick Sanger, who used “phage ΦX174” to deduce the first-ever DNA genome sequence; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
from “phage ΦX174”; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the Esperanto malgranda, meaning "micro/small", referring to the small size of the genome of viruses in the class; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the French petit, meaning "small", referring to the small size of the genome of viruses in the order; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós), meaning "small", referring to the size of the genomes of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Japanese Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇), aka Kōken (孝謙天皇), who wrote a poem about a plant disease caused by a geminivirus—considered the first written record of a plant virus disease; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
to honour Yvonne Cossart, who co-discovered parvovirus B19; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the French mou, meaning "flaccid", referring to the disease associated with Bombyx mori bidensovirus, a member of the class; and the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
a portmanteau of polinton-like virus; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Latin bi meaning "two" and DNA for deoxyribonucleic acid, referring to the segmented ssDNA genomes of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from papova, referring to the defunct Papovaviridae, which once included papillomavirus, mouse polyoma virus, and simian vacuolating virus ; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from SE [Stewart & Eddy] polyoma, the original designation for the first discovered polyomavirus (now murine polyomavirus); the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Ancient Greek πολύς (polús) meaning “many”, and oma, denoting “tumours”, referring to the association of viruses in the family with cancers; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
to honour Harald zur Hausen, who discovered the connection between papillomaviruses and cervical cancer; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Latin papilla, meaning “nipple" or "pustule”, and the Greek suffix -oma, used to form nouns denoting “tumours”, referring to the association of some viruses in the family with cancers; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Galician quinto, meaning "fifth", referencing Fifth disease, caused by parvovirus B19, a member of the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from the Italian piccolo, meaning "small/sharp", referring to the small size of parvovirus genomes; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Latin parvus, meaning "small", referring to the small virion size of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from CRESS DNA; referring to circular Rep-encoding ssDNA viruses; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa.
a portmanteau of arginine and finger, referring to a conserved domain in the helicase of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from bacillariophytes (diatoms), hosts of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the name of the Bacilladnavirus genus (Bacillariophytes) and DNA for deoxyribonuclic acid, referring to the hosts and genomes of viruses in this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of circoviruses and circo-like viruses, members of the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Latin circulos meaning "small ring", referring to the circular ssDNA genomes of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Vilya the ring of air, one of three rings of power from Middle-earth in the fictional novels of JR Tolkein; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
a portmanteau of CRESS, referring to circular Rep-encoding ssDNA viruses; and metagenomics; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from small circular ssDNA, referring to the size of genomes of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from multipartite, a feature of the genomes of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from América do Sul or America del Sur (South America in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively), the continent in which members of the family were first described; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek μεταξύ (metaxy), meaning "in-between", referring to the phylogenetic relationship of coconut foliar decay virus, a member of the family, to members of the families Geminiviridae and Nanoviridae; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from the Ancient Greek νᾶνος (nanos), meaning "dwarf", referring to the small genome of viruses in the family and their stunting effect on infected plants; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
a portmanteau of redondoviruses and CRESS, referring to circular Rep-encoding ssDNA viruses, both members of the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Spanish redondo, meaning “round”, referring to the circular nature of the DNA genome of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Rivendell, elven-refuge in a steep and hidden valley to the west of the Misty Mountains, a geograpghical region of Middle-earth in the fictional novels of JR Tolkein: the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear
from Narya the ring of fire, one of three rings of power from Middle-earth in the fictional novels of JR Tolkein; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
from Rohan, kingdom of the Rohirrim, bounded by the Anduin, the Misty Mountains, and Fangorn Forest, in the fictional novels of JR Tolkein; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear
from Nenya the ring of water, one of three rings of power from Middle-earth in the fictional novels of JR Tolkein; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear
a portmanteau of rep-encoding single strand, referring to the Rep-encoding ssDNA viruses in the taxon ; the suffix -vircetes for class taxa
a portmanteau of gemini, plants and fungi, referring to the hosts of viruses in the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Latin geminus meaning "twin", referring to the characteristic twinned (geminate) virion morphology of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from geminivirus-like and no movement, indicating the lack of a movement protein gene in viruses of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
from Trapani, Italy, where Halorubrum pleomorphic virus 1, a member of the taxon, was discovered,; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
from the Italian sale, meaning "salt", referencing the halophilic hosts of most pleolipovirids; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
from the Finnish huolimaton, meaning "sloppy", referencing the unmethodical assembly of pleolipovirions; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa
from Halorubrum pleomorphic virus 1, HRPV-1, a member of the taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa
from the Ancient Greek πλεῖον (pleo), meaning "many", and λῐ́πος (lípos), meaning “animal fat”, referring to the pleomorphic shape and presence of an envelope in virions of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
Realm: Riboviria
from ribo, for ribonucleic acid, referring to the genome of viruses in the realm; the suffix -viria for realm taxa
from the Greek ὀρθός (orthós) meaning "straight" or "true" and RNA for ribonucleic acid; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa
from the Italian duplo meaning "double", a reference to viruses in this phylum having double-stranded genomes, and RNA for ribonucleic acid; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa
a portmanteau of Chrysoviridae, Megabirnaviridae, and Totiviridae, three virus families included in the taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa