Chinese word

病毒

Pronunciation

Pinyinbìng dú

Meaning

  • nounvirus

Example

我的电脑中了病毒。wǒ de diàn nǎo zhōng le bìng dú

My computer got a virus.

Illustration for 病毒 (virus)

More examples

这种病毒会导致严重的呼吸道症状。zhè zhǒng bìng dú huì dǎo zhì yán zhòng de hū xī dào zhèng zhuàng

This virus can cause severe respiratory symptoms.

Core concept

Something that enters a living body or computer system, spreads, and causes damage.

Common phrases

  • 病毒检测bìng dú jiǎn cè

    virus testing

  • 对病毒免疫duì bìng dú miǎn yì

    immune to viruses

  • 病毒感染bìng dú gán rǎn

    viral infection

Similar words

病原体bìng yuán tǐ: Any harmful agent that causes disease in a living body.
细菌xì jūn: A one-celled microorganism, some kinds of which cause illness.
电脑病毒diàn nǎo bìng dú: A computer program that infects files, copies itself, and disrupts computer functions.
恶意软件è yì ruǎn jiàn: Software made to steal data, damage systems, or perform other harmful actions.

Definition in Chinese

指能够传播并对生物体或系统造成损害的有害因子，在不同语境可指生物病毒或计算机中的恶意程序。zhǐ néng gòu chuán bō bìng duì shēng wù tǐ huò xì tǒng zào chéng sǔn hài de yǒu hài yīn zi zài bù tóng yǔ jìng kě zhǐ shēng wù bìng dú huò jì suàn jī zhōng de è yì chéng xù

Word origin

病 (bìng, "illness") means illness and 毒 (dú, "poison") means poison, so their combination names a harmful agent and can cover both biological and digital threats.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may first associate virus with biology, but Chinese also uses 病毒 (bìngdú, "virus") for computer threats, so context matters in ordinary conversation.

Related words

  • 病毒学bìng dú xuévirologynoun
  • 病毒感染bìng dú gán rǎnviral infectionnoun
  • 病毒性bìng dú xìngviraladjective

Word lists with this word