Etymology

rotavirus

R1O1T1A1V4I1R1U1S1

Today it means: Any of a group of wheel-shaped viruses, of the genus Rotavirus, that causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea in children and animals. Full definition →

English virus ← Middle English virus ← Latin vīrus
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*Hreth₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*Hróth₂eh₂
  3. Proto-Italic*rotā
  4. Latinrota
  5. Proto-Indo-European*weys-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*wisós
  7. Proto-Italic*weizos
  8. Latinvīrus
  9. Middle Englishvirus
  10. Englishvirus
  11. English todayrotavirus

From Latin rota (“wheel”) + virus. The name was first proposed in July 1974 in an article in The Lancet.

Words from the same roots

Latinrota all →

roverrotaryrotarotundrotiferrotolobirotaterotalrotiformrowel

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.