[Ads-l] origin of the term "coronavirus"

[Margaret Winters]

I meant etymology/coinage.  The co- part could be for corona, but why -vid?  A blog I read, not by linguists, suggested 'seen together' but I can't say I'm convinced.

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MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost
Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Chris Waigl <chris at LASCRIBE.NET>
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2020 5:48 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: origin of the term "coronavirus"

On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 1:06 PM Margaret Winters <mewinters at wayne.edu>
wrote:

> That is what I understood too.
>
> Apropos, I haven't seen a source for 'covid' that sounded plausible so
> far...  Have I missed something on the list discussion?
>

I'm not sure what you mean by "source", but the site that I send people to
who are confused about name of virus and name of disease is, drumroll, the
WHO:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it


>
> """"
> Viruses are named based on their genetic structure to facilitate the
> development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines. Virologists and
> the wider scientific community do this work, so viruses are named by the
> International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
> Diseases are named to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread,
> transmissibility, severity and treatment. Human disease preparedness and
> response is WHO’s role, so diseases are officially named by WHO in the
> International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
> ICTV announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
> (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the new virus on 11 February 2020.  This name
> was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus
> responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003.  While related, the two viruses
> are different.
> WHO announced “COVID-19” as the name of this new disease on 11 February
> 2020, following guidelines previously developed with the World Organisation
> for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
> United Nations (FAO).
> """"



--
Chris Waigl . chris.waigl at gmail.com . chris at lascribe.net
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net . http://chryss.eu

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