The Wikipedia article on Plural form of words ending in -us has a long section on viruses vs viri. The English plural of virus is viruses. In most speaking communities, this is non-controversial and speakers would not attempt to use the non-standard plural in -i.
However, in computer enthusiast circles in the late 20th century and early 21st, the non-standard viri form sometimes even virii was well-attested, generally in the context of computer viruses.
While the number of users employing these non-standard plural forms of virus was always a proportionally small percentage of the English-speaking population, the variation was notable because it coincided with the growth of the web, a medium on which users of viri were over-represented. As the distribution of Internet users shifted to be more representative of the population as a whole during the s, the non-standard forms saw decline in usage.
A tendency towards prescriptivism in the computer enthusiast community, combined with the growing awareness that viri and virii are not etymologically supported plural forms, also played a part. Nonetheless, the question of what the Latin plural of virus would have been in ancient times turns out not to be straightforward, as no plural form is attested in ancient Latin literature.
Furthermore, its unusual status as a neuter noun ending in -us and not of Greek origin obscures its morphology, making guesses about how it should have been declined difficult. According to the Wiktionary ,virus has been.
From the same page, virus is at the same time countable and uncountable. Its plural forms are viruses or vira , and viri and virii are proscribed. Note: from that page , viri exists in Latin but is the nominative plural of vir which means man. Possibilities include vira by analogy with 2nd declension neuters in -um such as bellum and virus with a long u by analogy with 4th declension masculine such as status , although as a neuter noun the plural of virus in the 4th declension would be virua.
However, none of these is attested [4]. The form virii would not have been a correct plural, since the ending -ii only occurs in the plural of masculine and feminine words ending in -ius. For instance, take radius , plural radii : the root is radi- , with the singular ending -us and the plural -i. Thus the plural virii is that of the nonexistent word virius. The form viri would also be incorrect in Latin. The ending -i is normally used for masculine or feminine nouns, not neuter ones such as virus ; moreover, viri albeit with a short i in the first syllable is the plural of vir , and means "men.
Virus comes to English from Latin. This Latin word is probably related to the Greek ios -"to rust" and the Sanskrit word visha -"toxic, poison". While the word viruses is more often used in medical and professional literature, the form virii remains popular in some Internet communities.
There may be several reasons for the use of this word even when it is known to be unusual. Leet -speak is the name given to variations on languages where frequent intentional misspellings are common, even using numbers and symbols to replace the letters of a word. Examples of virus in a Sentence Is the illness caused by bacteria or a virus? I think I have the virus that's going around this winter. The software checks your hard drive for viruses. Recent Examples on the Web Much of the legal wrangling in the case has involved whether the law allows OSHA to regulate a virus as a dangerous workplace substance.
First Known Use of virus , in the meaning defined at sense 4. Buying Guide Our team at The Usage has selected the best antivirus software. Learn More About virus. Time Traveler for virus The first known use of virus was in See more words from the same year. From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. Style: MLA. More Definitions for virus. Kids Definition of virus.
Medical Definition of virus. Get Word of the Day daily email!
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