virion

noun

vi·​ri·​on ˈvī-rē-ˌän  ˈvir-ē- 

: a complete virus particle that consists of an RNA or DNA core with a protein coat sometimes with external envelopes and that is the extracellular infectious form of a virus

Examples of virion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These ventilation systems function like high-volume air samplers, creating negative pressure inside poultry houses that draws in huge quantities of ambient air effectively concentrating whatever particulates may be in that air, in this case infectious virions of H5N1. —John Drake, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025

This electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a cluster of norovirus virions. —CBS News, 29 Dec. 2024

This 1980 transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology exhibited by three poxvirus, molluscum contagiosum virions. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 24 Aug. 2023

Enlarge / An electron micrograph of a number of Marburg virions responsible for causing Marburg virus disease. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 30 Mar. 2023

The virus is not the virion. —The Economist, 20 Aug. 2020

That helps distinguish it from 'coronavirus' (lowercase 'c'), which could mean an individual virus particle (what we biologists call a 'virion'). —Jv Chamary, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2021

There are three segments, Small (S), Medium (M), and Large (L), each of which encodes different aspects of the virion. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 3 June 2022

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a monkeypox virion, obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. —Maria Cheng, BostonGlobe.com, 23 May 2022

Word History

Etymology

French, from virien viral (from virus virus) + -on -on entry 2

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for virion

• assyrian
• counterion
• criterion
• hyperion
• iberian
• illyrian
• mousterian
• shakespearean
• shakespearian
• hanoverian
• presbyterian

Medical Definition

virion

noun

vi·​ri·​on ˈvī-rē-ˌän  ˈvir-ē- 

: a complete virus particle that consists of an RNA or DNA core with a protein coat sometimes with external envelopes and that is the extracellular infectious form of a virus