Etymograph

English

virulent

Virulent comes from Middle English virulent ‘leaking or seeping pus, purulent’, from Latin vīrulentus ‘poisonous’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weys- ‘to flow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weys-‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wisós‘poison’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weizosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīrus‘poison’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīrulentus‘poisonous’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500virulent‘leaking or seeping pus, purulent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weys-‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wisós‘poison’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weizosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīrus‘poison’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīrulentus‘poisonous’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500virulent‘leaking or seeping pus, purulent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton: “More venemous and much more virulent / Then any…”

first attested Sense 4 (“of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis”) is derived from French virulent, which was first used in this sense by the French biologist François Jacob (1920–2013) and his co-authors in a 1953 article (as stated in the etymology)

The story

From Middle English virulent (‘leaking or seeping pus, purulent; (of putrefaction) extremely severe (sense uncertain)’) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin vīrulentus (‘poisonous’), from vīrus (‘poison; venom; slime, slimy liquid; stinking smell; nasty taste’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (‘poison; slime; fluidity’)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’, forming adjectives). Sense 4 (‘of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis’) is derived from French virulent, which was first used in this sense by the French biologist François Jacob (1920–2013) and his co-authors in a 1953 article.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weys- ‘to flow’

weasel, whisk, visceral, ooze, woozy, viscera, 7 more

through Latin vīrus ‘poison’

virus, virion, 2 more

Today it means

adj Of animals, plants, or substances: extremely venomous or poisonous.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weys- / virulent

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