Etymology

from the Ancient Greek ἀσκός (askós), meaning "tube" or “sac”, referring to the virion-containing vesicles produced by cleavage of host cells, which are characteristic for viruses of this family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Greek Iris (iridos), the daughter of gods whose sign was the rainbow, hence iridescent, referring to the appearance of invertebrates infected with viruses of the family as well as centrifuged pellets of virions; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Marseille, the French city where Marseillevirus marseillevirus, a member of the family, was discovered; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Japanese mamono (魔物), meaning “monster”, referring to the term "giant" used to describe the genome and virions of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Middle English pokkes, meaning "pox", referring; the disease manifestation associated with some viruses in the taxon suffix -viricetes for class taxa

a portmanteau of Asfarviridae and "faustovirus" (a likely member of the order together with "pacmanviruses" and "kaumoebaviruses"); the suffix -virales for order taxa

from African swine fever and related viruses; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

to recognise the proposed name for a higher-rank taxon for poxviruses proposed by Lwoff and Tournier in 1966 (“Chitovirales”; from the Greek χιτών, (khitōn), a specific garment and a reference to the morphological structure of poxviruses); the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Old English poc, meaning “pustule”, referring to the disease pox associated with some viruses of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

a portmanteau of precursor of certain plasmids, referring to the evolutionary relationship of some viruses in the taxa and some plasmids; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa

from the Finnish ainoa, meaning "only" or "single", a reference to the single-stranded DNA genome of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

to honor Jaana K.H. Bamford (nee Lautamo) who established phage research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from Finnish and lake, referring to the location where Flavobacterium phage FLiP, a member of the family, was isolated; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

a reference to maviruses that share many features with the large, virus-like transposons of the Maverick/Polinton superfamily; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from the Lithuanian priklausomas, meaning "dependent", a reference to the included family Lavidaviridae (large virus dependent associated); the suffix -virales for order taxa

from large virus dependent or associated, referring to the dependence on, or association with, a large dsDNA virus of the family Mimiviridae; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the initial naming of adintoviruses as polinton “transposons", referencing the type B DNA polymerase (PolB) and retrovirus-like integrase genes that they encode; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from the Ancient Greek ὀρθός (orthós), meaning "proper", and polinto, referencing the encoded type B DNA polymerase (PolB) and retrovirus-like integrase genes; the suffix -virales for order taxa

a portmantaeu referring to the similarity of members of the family to adenoviruses, and the presence of an active, virus-encoded integrase gene; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from tectivirid-like, referring to viruses of the family Tectiviridae; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

from Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology, equivalent to Norns in Norse mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear

from Skuld, one of the three Norns, the most powerful beings in Norse mythology that govern the lives of gods and mortals; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from belfry, a tower (turret), referencing the turret-like appendages that decorate the capsid shell of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin turris, meanimg "turret", referring to the turreted structure of the icosahedral virion of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Coyopa, the god of thunder in Mayan mythology; the suffix -virales for order taxa; connection unclear

from Chaac, the god of rain in Mayan mythology; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from Kalamazoo, USA, where Pseudomonas phage PRD1 was first isolated ; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin tectus, meaning "covered",  referring to a lipid envelope covering the DNA compartment and separating the genomic DNA from a protein capsid in viruses of the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

to honour Wallace P. Rowe, one of the co-discoverers of adenovirids in 1953, with the addition of the vowel a; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from adenoid, the tissue where adenoviruses, originally named adenoid degeneration viruses, were discoverd in 1953; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Viña del Mar, Chile, where “phage PM2” was first isolated; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin cortex, meaning “crust” or “bark”, referring to the protective layer of the capsid protein in virions of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from Autolykos, from Greek mythology, who was described as being difficult to catch; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from Yara, the mother of waters, a  mythological character of the Tupi indigenous people of Brazil; the suffix -viridae for family taxa; connection unclear

from the Latin helvetia meaning "Swiss", a reference to the Swiss roll (an alternative name for jelly roll) and hence a reference to the jelly roll fold of the capsid proteins of viruses in this taxon; the suffix -virae for kingdom taxa

from the Esperanto divido, meaning "division", referencing the split double jelly roll (two vertical single jelly roll) major capsid protein encoded by viruses in this taxon; the suffix -viricota for phylum taxa

a portmanteau of Serpentine Lake, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, where the first virus of this taxon, “archaeal virus SH1”, was discovered; the suffix -viricetes for class taxa

a portmanteau of Haloarcula hispanica, the host of archaeal virus SH1, the founding member of this clade; the suffix -virales for order taxa

to honour the Japanese virologist Isao Matsushita, who isolated Thermus phage IN93, a member of the virus family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Latin simulo meaning "pretend", referring to that genomes of the viruses in this family were first thought to be plasmids; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the Latin sphaera, meaning “sphere” and the Ancient Greek λίπος (lípos), meaning “fat”, referring to virion morhology and the internal protein-rich membrane vesicle of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

from the abbreviation NALDV meaning "nuclear arthropod large DNA viruses; the suffix ‑viricetes for class taxa

from the term “late expression factor”, which refers to genes identified in a screen for ORFs required for, or supporting, late-phase baculovirus transcription; the suffix -virales for order taxa

from the Latin baculus, meaning “stick", referring to the morphology of virions of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

from the Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér), meaning, “excessive” and τροφή (trophḗ), meaning “nourishment", and sialoadenitis, meaning salivary gland inflammation referring to the salivary gland hypertrophy in  hosts infected by viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

from the Latin nudus, meaning "naked", part of the previously used name nudibaculovirus, describing rod-shaped nucleocapsids lacking a protein matrix such as polyhedrin or granulin; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

from the Hebrew nima, meaning “thread”, referring to the thread- or tail-like polar extension (appendage) on virions of some viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

from the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and the Latin satellit, meaning "attendent", for families that are dependent upon a helper virus to spread. The suffix -satelittidae is used for satelitte family taxa

from the Latin ampulla, meaning "bottle", referring to the unique bottle-shaped morphology of the virion; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa

from the Latin anello, meaning "ring", referring to the circular nature of the DNA genome of viruses in the family; the suffix ‑viridae for family taxa