ウイルス

also: ウィルス

ウ

イ

ル

ス

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

noun

virus

General noun for a virus, used in medical, biological, and computer-security contexts.

from Latin

新あたらしいウイルスが世せ界かい中じゅうに広ひろがった。
A new virus spread around the world.

Related words

ビールスN1

ウイルス is the standard modern term for 'virus', while ビールス is an older, German-derived word for the same thing that now sounds dated or overly technical.

微び生せい物ぶつ

ウイルス specifically means virus, which many scientists classify separately from cellular life, while 微生物 loosely includes viruses in everyday usage.

Don't confuse with· 5

細さい菌きんN2

細菌 refers to a bacterium, a living single‑celled organism, while ウイルス is a much smaller, non‑cellular infectious agent that needs a host cell to replicate.

ワクチンN2

ワクチン is a preparation used to prevent infection, whereas ウイルス is the pathogen itself that causes disease.

ばい菌きんN1

ウイルス refers specifically to viruses, a different kind of microorganism from the bacteria that ばい菌 usually implies, though both get blamed for sickness in casual speech.

Show 2 more

コロナウイルス
ウイルス is the broad word for any virus, whereas コロナウイルス names one specific family of viruses, so learners must not treat them as interchangeable.
バクテリア
バクテリア are living single-celled organisms, whereas ウイルス are not cells and can only replicate inside a host, so they are biologically distinct despite both being called 'germs' in casual speech.

Meanings

Usage patterns