What does "retrovirus" mean?

Any of a group of viruses which insert a copy of their RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell, thus changing the genome of that cell.

Retrovirus

noun

noun ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of a group of viruses which insert a copy of their RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell, thus changing the genome of that cell.
"Montagnier soon deduced that this was an RNA virus that could convert its genes into DNA and lodge into the human genome—a retrovirus."
2
any of a group of viruses that contain two single-strand linear RNA molecules per virion and reverse transcriptase (RNA to DNA); the virus transcribes its RNA into a cDNA provirus that is then incorporated into the host cell wordnet
3
A computer virus that seeks to attack antivirus programs in an attempt to avoid detection.

"Montagnier soon deduced that this was an RNA virus that could convert its genes into DNA and lodge into the human genome—a retrovirus."

From retro- + virus, from its reverse direction of replication.

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