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Lv 7
? asked in Education & ReferenceWords & Wordplay · 3 months ago

Do the words 'virus' and 'virulent' have a common origin? [GB English, idk if 'virulent occurs in US English]?

I know that one is a noun and the other an adjective, but as recent events have shown a virus can spread in a virulent manner, as well as the fact the two words share the same first 5 letters.

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  • busterwasmycat
    Lv 7
    3 months ago
    Favourite answer

    Literally, the root of virulent is Latin virus (poison) which is very obviously the same word in English. Virulent comes from Latin virulentia (full of poison), a form of the word virus.  So yes.

    And yes, virulent is a word in American English.

  • Anonymous
    3 months ago

    Yes, they both have the same root.  We have it in US English too.

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