Main Entry: ¹vi·roid

Pronunciation: \ˈvī-ˌrȯid\

Function: noun

1 : a hypothetical symbiont resembling a virus that was formerly held to be present in cells, to be favorable to the host, and to tend to mutate to a virus
2 : any of two families (Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae) of subviral particles that consist of a small single-stranded RNA arranged in a closed loop without a protein shell and that replicate in their host plants where they may or may not be pathogenic