noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A virus genome, such as HIV, that integrates itself into the DNA of a host cell so as to be passively replicated along with the host genome.
2. 2
   cDNA copy of the RNA genome of a retrovirus; the genetic material of a virus as incorporated into and able to replicate with the genome of a host cell wordnet

Etymology

From pro- + virus.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.