Standard Lemma guide

girus

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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  • /ˈd͡ʒaɪɹəs/
  • rhymes with -aɪɹəs

1

noun

Meaning 1

a type of giant virus, a giant nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (giant NCLDV)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, microbiology, natural-sciences, virology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Synonym of giant virus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: giant virus

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Blend of giant + virus; coined by J M Claverie, H Ogata, S Audic, C Abergel, K Suhre, P E Fournier, in a 2006 paper in Virus Research (DOI 10.1016/j.virusres.2006.01.008).