virus
/ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/
"virus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“virus” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,537. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #3,537
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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 ...
Corpus desk
Index EN-virus · virus · English
virus · rank #3,537 · 7 variants · 15 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,537
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH Vegas
Nearest frequency peer: Vegas (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “virus”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- trash
trash
96,467 corpus weight
- ugly
ugly
96,466 corpus weight
- Vegas
Vegas
96,465 corpus weight
- virus
virus
96,464 corpus weight
- walker
walker
96,463 corpus weight
- whoever
whoever
96,462 corpus weight
What this shows “virus” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “virus”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around virus (IPA /ˈvaɪ.ɹəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,537 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how virus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.
Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "virus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).