coronavirus
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of coronavirus
First recorded in 1965–70; so called from the coronalike array of spikes projecting from the capsid
Compare meaning
How does coronavirus compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A coronavirus is a specific type of microbe that can cause an infectious disease. One particular coronavirus, first identified in 2019, caused a worldwide pandemic. If you look at a coronavirus under a microscope, you'll see its round, spiky, crownlike shape. That's where this virus gets its name; corona means "crown" in Latin. People talked about coronaviruses a lot in 2020 because of Covid-19 (an acronym for coronavirus disease of 2019). But these viruses have been around for generations, and they're usually not so deadly. In fact, coronaviruses are responsible for the common cold, as well as illnesses affecting birds and non-human mammals.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Germany was "returning to the arrangements we had before the coronavirus pandemic," he told ARD TV on Thursday night.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
To investigate the process, researchers compared SARS-CoV-2 with RaTG13, a closely related coronavirus that infects bats but has not been known to infect humans.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
Previous winners of the Concord Award include Scottish charity group Mary's Meals, Spanish chef Jose Andres, and Spain's health workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
The raids rendered large swaths of L.A. as quiet as the coronavirus shutdown days; some areas still haven’t rebounded and might never.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
The Kwong case hinges on an early 2020 disaster declaration as the then-novel coronavirus upended everything.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
The vaccine was engineered to work on all coronaviruses which would include all Covid variants as well as viruses that currently infect animals yet have the potential to start the next pandemic.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
With three doses, the mice remained protected from SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses for at least three months.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026
As long as that heightened innate activity continued, mice were protected against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026
A recent study in the journal Nature solves part of that mystery by breaking down exactly how bats can live specifically with coronaviruses and not show symptoms.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2025
Raccoon dogs, masked palm civets, hoary bamboo rats and Malayan porcupines have transmitted bat coronaviruses before, the study authors noted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2024
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
