Virus, vī′rus, n. contagious or poisonous matter (as of ulcers, &c.): the poison which causes infection: any foul, hurtful matter.—adjs. Vī′rose, Vī′rous; Virūlif′erous, bearing a specific virus. [L.; cog. with Gr. ios, Sans. visha, poison.]
Vis, vis, n. force: power:—pl. Vī′res.—Vis inertiæ, inertia: sluggishness; Vis mortua, force of pressure, dead force; Vis viva, living force, equal to the mass of a moving body multiplied by the square of its velocity. [L.]
Visage, viz′āj, n. the face or look.—adj. Vis′aged. [Fr., through an assumed form visaticum, from L. visus, seen—vidēre, to see.]
Vis-à-vis, vēz′-a-vē′, adv. facing one another.—n. one who faces, or is opposite to, another: a light carriage with seats facing each other: a kind of couch. [Fr. vis, face (—L. visus, look), à, to, vis, face.]
Viscacha, vis-kach′a, n. a South American rodent of the Chinchilla family, inhabiting the South American Pampas, of stout form and about twenty inches in length, a gregarious burrower and nocturnal in habits—also Bizcacha.—n. Viscachera (vis-ka-chā′ra), a settlement of viscachas. [Sp.; prob. of Peruv. origin.]
Viscera, vis′e-ra, n.pl. the inner parts of the animal body: the entrails:—sing. Vis′cus.—adj. Vis′ceral, pertaining to the viscera: abdominal.—v.t. Vis′cerāte, to disembowel. [L. viscus (pl. viscera).]
Viscount, vī′kownt, n. an officer who formerly acted as deputy to the earl, the vice-comes: a title of nobility next below an earl:—fem. Vī′scountess.—ns. Vī′scountcy, Vī′scountship, Vī′scounty, the rank or dignity of a viscount. [O. Fr. viscomte (Fr. vicomte)—Low L. vice-comes—L. vice, in place of, comes, a companion.]
Viscous, vis′kus, adj. sticky: tenacious—also Vis′cid.—ns. Viscid′ity, Vis′cousness; Viscos′ity, the property of being viscous: (phys.) that property of matter which is seen when the relative motion of parts of any body or substance decays on its being left to itself. [Low L. viscosus, sticky—L. viscum, bird-lime, mistletoe; cog. with Gr. ixos, mistletoe.]
Viscum, vis′kum, n. a genus of parasitic plants, including the mistletoe. [L.]