virion

\vi.ʁjɔ̃\

/\vi.ʁjɔ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“virion” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Particule extracellulaire infectieuse d’un virus sans activité métabolique, qui sert au transport du matériel génétique d’un virus avant l’intégration de celui-ci dans une cellule.

Corpus desk

Index FR-virion · virion · French

virion · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "V" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for virion
PropertyValue
Headwordvirion
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\vi.ʁjɔ̃\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « virion » en français

virionn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

virion is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \vi.ʁjɔ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Particule extracellulaire infectieuse d’un virus sans activité métabolique, qui sert au transport du matériel génétique d’un virus avant l’intégration de celui-ci dans une cellule.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for virion, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is virion, spelled V-I-R-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Particule extracellulaire infectieuse d’un virus sans activité métabolique, qui sert au transport du matériel génétique d’un virus avant l’intégration de celui-ci dans une cellule.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how virion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Or, si l’on sait infecter des tissus de Tabac cultivés in vitro avec des virions ⁽³⁾, aucune tentative n’a été faite pour viroser des cultures de tissus avec l’ARN du VMT et vérifier si les colonies éventuellement infectées restaient virosés après des repiquages successifs.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "virion"?
"virion" is spelled V-I-R-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \vi.ʁjɔ̃\.
What does "virion" mean?
As a noun, "virion" means: Particule extracellulaire infectieuse d’un virus sans activité métabolique, qui sert au transport du matériel génétique d’un virus avant l’intégration de celui-ci dans une cellule.
How do you pronounce "virion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "virion" is \vi.ʁjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "virion" come from?
"virion" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list