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Glite Dictionary
Togaviridae

Togaviridae

9.9
A family of viruses spread by insects like mosquitoes that cause disease in people and animals
  • noun
  • /ˌtoʊɡəˈvɪrɪdiː/
  • Specialized
: Togaviridae
  • Chikungunya fever is caused by infection with chikungunya virus (CHIKV; family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus).

Examples

  • The Togaviridae family includes viruses that are transmitted to humans through mosquito bites.

  • Researchers are studying the Togaviridae family to develop vaccines against their associated diseases.

  • Diseases caused by members of the Togaviridae family, such as Zika virus, have significant public health implications.

Surface Forms

Togaviridae singular
Togaviridaes plural

Morphology

Togaviridae = Togavirus (opaque) = togavir + idae

Formed by a specialist taxonomic process (genus stem + family suffix '-idae' / '-viridae'); the meaning is technical and not derivable by an average B1 learner from the parts.

Etymology

Togaviridae comes from the Latin toga meaning 'cloak' because these viruses have an outer 'coat', and the ending -viridae means a family of viruses. So, Togaviridae is the name for a family of 'cloaked' viruses, many of which are spread by mosquitoes.