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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

viral en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈvaɪɹəl/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • vī′rəl

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weys- Proto-Indo-European *wisós Proto-Italic *weizos Latin vīrusbor. Middle English virus English virus English -al English viral From virus + -al.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Of or relating to a biological virus.
    • viral DNA
  2. (not-comparable) Caused by a virus.
    • viral infection
  3. (not-comparable) Of the nature of an informatic virus; able to spread copies of itself to other computers.
  4. (not-comparable) Spread by word of mouth with minimal intervention, in order to create buzz and interest.
    • “Efficient way to disseminate information? I don't think.” “But it is,” Cayce insists. “The model's viral. ‘Deep niche.’ The venues would be carefully selected—” 2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 85:
    • Still, the movie [Ralph Breaks the Internet] manages to locate some gentle satire in our culture's love-hate relationship with the internet. At one point, Ralph must attain a certain level of viral popularity, assisted by the BuzzFeed-esque content guru Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), and the movie is savvy about how accidental spikes in fame can turn into cynical algorithm manipulation. 2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 21 Nov 2019:
  5. (not-comparable, qualifier:social media) Circulated rapidly and widely from one user to another.
    • With some minutes to kill, he checks the headlines on his phone. Yet again, something dreadful and new which he doesn't understand is going viral. Today's fad is, you paint a black vertical rectangle on the wall, or on a mirror, or over the top of a picture. And then you chant something. 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 135:
    • The end game of that is the GoFundMe link posted beneath a viral tweet so they can pay for their health care. Being an influencer sounds fun until it’s ‘keep producing viral content to literally stay alive.’ 2021 March 24, Charlie Warzel, quoting Anil Dash, “What Are You Paying for When You Buy a GIF for $25,000?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Deriveds

viral vector · myxoviral · herpesviral · pseudoviral · neuroviral · coronaviral · viral sex · bovine viral diarrhea · megaviral · mycoviral · postviral · microviral · cardioviral · myoviral · previral · viral load · phycoviral · intraviral · semiviral · nonviral · subviral · riboviral · micro-viral · viral media · virally · oncoviral · viral envelope · bovine viral diarrhoea · viralness · proviral · panviral · extraviral · viralize · retroviral · phytoviral · phleboviral · gammacoronaviral · betacoronaviral · endogenous viral element · adenoviral · anti-viral · viral marketing · multiviral · cryptoviral · astroviral · interviral · haloviral · superviral · lipoviral · alphacoronaviral · poxviral · virality · enteroviral · antiviral · go viral

Synonyms

virous

Translations (72)

cs virový (relating to a virus in biological sense) · he ויראלי (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · ko 바이러스의 (relating to a virus in biological sense) · et viirus- (relating to a virus in biological sense) · es vírico (caused by a virus) · eo virusa (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ru ви́русный (relating to a virus in biological sense) · es viral (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · de Virus- (caused by a virus) · ms tular (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · gl viral (caused by a virus) · pt viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · tr salgın (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · ro viral (caused by a virus) · cy feirysol (relating to a virus in biological sense) · hi वायरल ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · ca víric (caused by a virus) · fi virus- (relating to a virus in biological sense) · es viral (caused by a virus) · pl wirusowy (caused by a virus) · bg вирусен (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ru ви́русный (computing: of the nature of a virus) · ms tular ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · ca viral (caused by a virus) · sv viral (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · et viirusturundus (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · hu virális (relating to a virus in biological sense) · de virusartig (computing: of the nature of a virus) · io virusala (relating to a virus in biological sense) · hu vírus- (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ga víreasach (caused by a virus) · cs virový (caused by a virus) · et viiruslik (caused by a virus) · et viiruslik (computing: of the nature of a virus) · cmn 瘋傳 /疯传 ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · ca víric (relating to a virus in biological sense) · es viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ca viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · de Virus- (computing: of the nature of a virus) · ga víreasach (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ms virus (relating to a virus in biological sense) · cy feirol (relating to a virus in biological sense) · vo virudik (relating to a virus in biological sense) · sh zarazan (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · ca viral (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · ko 바이러스성 (caused by a virus) · vo virudik (caused by a virus) · mi wheori (caused by a virus) · ms تولر (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · hi व्यापक ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · de Virus- (relating to a virus in biological sense) · uk ві́русний ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · ro viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · gl viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · fi viraali (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · es vírico (relating to a virus in biological sense) · de wie ein Lauffeuer (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · tr viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · ro viral (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · pt viral (advertising and marketing: spread by word of mouth) · pl wirusowy (relating to a virus in biological sense) · mi hōrapa ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · de viral (caused by a virus) · sv viral ((of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulating rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another) · mi wheori (relating to a virus in biological sense) · tr viral (caused by a virus) · ro virotic (caused by a virus) · el ιικός (relating to a virus in biological sense) · sv viral (caused by a virus) · sv viral (relating to a virus in biological sense) · pt viral (caused by a virus) · hu vírusos (caused by a virus)

viral en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈvaɪɹəl/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • vī′rəl

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weys- Proto-Indo-European *wisós Proto-Italic *weizos Latin vīrusbor. Middle English virus English virus English -al English viral From virus + -al.

Meanings

  1. A video, image or text spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing purposes.
    • 2002, Nik Lever, Flash Mx Games: ActionScript for Artists, Focal Press, page 411, Using the Flash ActiveX control in this way allows you as a developer to create desktop characters, email virals and screensavers.
    • 2005, Russell Evans, Practical DV Filmmaking, Focal Press, page 289, Music company virals are becoming commonplace as costs of promos force labels to reconsider how to target more directly to consumers.
    • 2003, Dave Chaffey, Total E-Mail Marketing, Elsevier, page 2, [M]ost virals are not seen as profiling and data collection exercises, since that would kill the impulse of forwarding to a friend.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
virals Number=Plur lexicographic