virus
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virus
A very small pathogen that can reproduce only in living cells and causes infections in humans, animals, or plants.
Eine Impfung kann vor einer Infektion mit dem Grippe-Virus schützen.
A vaccination can protect against infection with the flu virus.
virus
A harmful computer program that spreads by itself and can damage data or disrupt computer operations.
Öffne niemals E-Mail-Anhänge von unbekannten Absendern, sie könnten ein Virus enthalten.
Never open email attachments from unknown senders; they could contain a virus.
You can tell from the context whether a biological virus or a computer virus is meant. Words like 'Krankheit' (illness), 'Infektion' (infection), or 'Impfung' (vaccination) point to the medical meaning. Terms like 'Computer' (computer), 'Datei' (file), or 'Programm' (program) point to the technical meaning.
Mein Computer läuft langsam, ich glaube, ich habe ein Virus.
My computer is running slowly; I think I have a virus.
To make the meaning clear, 'Virus' (virus) is often used as part of a compound word. Examples are 'Computervirus' (computer virus), 'Grippevirus' (flu virus), or 'Coronavirus' (coronavirus).
Ein gutes Antivirenprogramm schützt vor den meisten Computerviren.
A good antivirus program protects against most computer viruses.
In a medical context, 'Virus' (virus) is often combined with verbs such as 'sich anstecken mit' (to catch / become infected with), 'sich infizieren mit' (to become infected with), or 'übertragen' (to transmit).
Man kann sich leicht mit diesem Virus anstecken.
You can easily catch this virus.
In connection with computers, typical verbs are 'entfernen' (to remove), 'löschen' (to delete), 'sich verbreiten' (to spread), or 'befallen' (to infect).
Das Virus hat viele Dateien auf meiner Festplatte befallen.
The virus infected many files on my hard drive.
worm
Virus and Wurm can both be harmful computer programs that spread themselves. A Virus is typically attached to a file or another program, whereas a Wurm spreads independently through networks. When the focus is on how it spreads, use Virus or Wurm depending on the context.
Das Virus verbreitete sich, nachdem eine infizierte Datei auf mehreren Computern geöffnet worden war.
The virus spread after an infected file had been opened on several computers.
Der Wurm verbreitete sich selbstständig über das Netzwerk und erreichte mehrere Computer.
The worm spread independently through the network and reached several computers.
