Hypertext Webster Gateway: "virus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Virus \Vi"rus\, n. [L., a slimy liquid, a poisonous liquid,
poison, stench; akin to Gr. ? poison, Skr. visha. Cf.
{Wizen}, v. i.]
1. (Med.)
(a) Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers,
the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic
poisons.
(b) The special contagion, inappreciable to the senses and
acting in exceedingly minute quantities, by which a
disease is introduced into the organism and maintained
there.
Note: The specific virus of diseases is now regarded as a
microscopic living vegetable organism which multiplies
within the body, and, either by its own action or by
the associated development of a chemical poison, causes
the phenomena of the special disease.
2. Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or
moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the
soul; as, the virus of obscene books.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
virus
n : ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself
only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic
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