Home › Words › O › oncovirusoncovirus/ˈɒŋkəʊvʌɪɹəs/oncovirus · noun — A virus that can cause cancer.Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).oncovirus is pronounced /ˈɒŋkəʊvʌɪɹəs/.EtymologyFrom onco- + virus.nounA virus that can cause cancer.e.g.“Human oncoviruses soon followed and it became apparent that whole classes of cancer, such as cervical cancer, were indeed caused partly by viral infection.” — 1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 234:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.carcinovirus 76% match — Any virus whose presence leads to cancer vs oncovirus →tumorvirus 75% match — Synonym of oncovirus. vs oncovirus →oncopathogen 66% match — Any oncogenic pathogen vs oncovirus →protovirus 63% match — A DNA sequence capable of mutating into an oncogenic virus, proposed as a hypothesis to explain the origin of ribodeoxyviruses as arising from normal cellular components. vs oncovirus →carcinogen 62% match — A substance or agent that can cause cancer. vs oncovirus →cancerogen 61% match — Synonym of carcinogen. vs oncovirus →oncoprotein 60% match — A protein that is coded for by an oncogene. vs oncovirus →oncolytic 60% match — That breaks up cancer cells. vs oncovirus →