: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of COVID-19

Examples of SARS-CoV-2 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the virus, SARS-CoV-2, infected 778 million people and killed 7.1 million from the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 through March 2025. Amita Gupta, Baltimore Sun, 7 May 2025 The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 Science. Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2025 Republicans have speculated since the beginning of the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 originated from research projects on bat coronaviruses funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Gabrielle M. Etzel, The Washington Examiner, 5 May 2025 The ingredients in some vaccines, such as the COVID shots, have been updated regularly to better match the strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in circulation, without fundamentally changing the vaccines themselves. Rob Stein, NPR, 1 May 2025 Overall, the question of SARS-CoV-2's origin has become extremely politicized, as have most other aspects of the pandemic. ArsTechnica, 18 Apr. 2025 Long COVID, or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to ongoing or new symptoms that persist weeks or months after the initial COVID-19 illness. Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025 The causes of autism, the outcomes of gender-affirming care, and the origins of SARS-CoV-2 are all topics worthy of scientific investigation. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2025 Some of these projects supported research on AIDS prevention and HIV, alcohol use, and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Renata Daou, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2020, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of SARS-CoV-2 was in 2020

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Cite this Entry

“SARS-CoV-2.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SARS-CoV-2. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

Medical Definition

SARS-CoV-2

noun
: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of COVID-19 see delta variant, omicron variant
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