Latin 'virus' (poison), from PIE *weys- (to ooze) — narrowed to microbes in 1892, extended to code in 1972.
An infectious agent that replicates only inside living cells; also, a piece of code that replicates itself within a computer system.
From Latin 'vīrus' (poison, venom, slimy liquid), from PIE *weys- (to flow, to ooze, especially something unpleasant). The same root produced Sanskrit 'viṣá' (poison), Greek 'iós' (poison, venom, rust), and Old Irish 'fí' (poison). The word was adopted into English as a general term for poisons and