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picornavirus

Today it means: Any of the family Picornaviridae of RNA viruses, many of which are pathogenic, causing diseases such as polio, foot-and-mouth disease, and many varieties of the common cold. Full definition →

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The story

The name "picornavirus" has a dual etymology. Firstly, the name derives from picorna- which is an acronym for "poliovirus, insensitivity to ether, coxsackievirus, orphan virus, rhinovirus, and ribonucleic acid". Secondly, the name derives from pico-, which designates a very small unit of measurement (equivalent to 10⁻¹²), combined with rna to describe this group of very small RNA viruses.; pico- + RNA + virus

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.