virus
/ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/
"virus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“virus” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,537 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,537
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the ...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | virus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,537 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “virus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for virus is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,537 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for virus, with forms such as "ivrus", "virrus", and "virsu". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "vis", "viruses", "vers", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English virus, from Latin vīrus (“poison, slime, venom”), via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“fluidity, slime, poison”). First use in the computer context by David Gerrold in his 1972 book When HARLIE Was One. The correct English form is virus, spelled V-I-R-U-S.
Definition
- 1A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms).
- 2A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms).
- 3A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms).
- 4A quantity of such infectious agents, considered en masse.
- 5A disease caused by such an infectious agent; a viral illness.
- 6Venom, as produced by a poisonous animal etc.
- 7A type of malware which can covertly transmit itself between computers via networks (especially the Internet) or removable storage such as disks, often causing damage to systems and data; also computer virus.
- 8Any type of malware.
- 9Any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.
Etymology
From Middle English virus, from Latin vīrus (“poison, slime, venom”), via rhotacism from Proto-Italic *weizos, from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“fluidity, slime, poison”). First use in the computer context by David Gerrold in his 1972 book When HARLIE Was One.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ivrus,virrus,virsu,viruss,viurs,vrius,vvirus
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of virus - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “virus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-I-R-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vis” - see the side-by-side comparison. virus vs vis
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.