Novel or New Coronavirus?

This week, we received a question from Thompson in China.

Question:

The following words always make me very confused. Could you please tell me, what is the difference between novel coronavirus and new coronavirus, and which one should be official. -- Thompson, China.

Answer:

Dear Thompson,

Thanks for your question. We suspect you are not alone in your confusion² about what to call the virus that is causing so much pain and trouble around the world.

When there is a new viral disease³, three groups of experts work to describe it. The World Health Organization, or WHO, decides what to name the disease. Experts in the study of viruses decide what to name the virus. And, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, or ICTV, studies the genetics of the virus to learn how it might be related⁴ to other viruses.

COVID-19 is the cause of the current health crisis⁵. CO stands for corona¹, VI stands for virus and D stands for disease. The WHO added the -19 because 2019 was the year it appeared.

The ICTV found that the virus was related to another virus that caused the SARS disease. That is why they called it SARS-CoV-2. In answer to your question, that is the official name for the virus. It was different enough from any other virus to be called "novel." Scientists speak of a virus they have not seen before as "novel."

But "novel" and "new" before the word "coronavirus" mean the exact same thing. The words are interchangeable in this case.

Synonyms⁶

"Novel" and "new" are synonyms, different words that have the same, or very similar meaning, in a single language. Both novel and new can mean something that is unique or original or something not identified earlier. Novel is often used in connection with ideas, as in this Science News headline:

Tackling⁷ the novel coronavirus calls for novel ideas.

We often use "novel" to talk about a new way to solve a problem.

Tammy won an award for her novel method of stopping crime.

New

In both those examples "new" could replace "novel" without a loss of meaning. But novel can not always be used as a substitute⁸ for new. New is a more general term.

Let's say, for example, a woman purchased a piece of art to give to her husband. She might say,

I bought a new painting for Fred.

That means the painting is new to Fred. The painting itself might be old, maybe even made by an artist who died years earlier.

Often new is used to mean "latest." "Novel" would not work in those cases, either. Here's an example:

The singer has released⁹ a new album, but critics say it sounds like all his other recordings¹⁰.

Or:

I put new paper in the printer.

The paper is not novel. Paper has been made in the same method and with the same materials for a long time. "New" is not a necessary word in this example. The speaker just means they refilled the printer with paper.

Thanks again for the question, Thompson. I hope we have helped!

Your questions

What question do you have about English? Send us an email at [email protected].

And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

taxonomy – n. the process of describing how different living things are related by putting them in groups

tackle¹¹ – v. to deal with (something difficult)

1 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

2 confusion   

n.困惑，迷乱，混淆，混乱，骚乱

参考例句：

• His answers to my questions have only added to my confusion.他对我的问题的回答只是使我更加困惑不解。
• His unexpected arrival threw us into total confusion.他的突然来访使我们完全不知所措。

3 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

4 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

5 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

6 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

7 tackling   

n. 扭住, 抱住, 卷起

参考例句：

• a bottom-up approach to tackling the problem 处理这个问题的自下而上的方法
• There are three essentially different ways of tackling the problem. 解决这个问题有三种根本不同的方法。

8 substitute   

n.代理，代理人，代用品，代替物；vt.代替；vi.替代，取代

参考例句：

• Can you substitute for the singer who is ill?你能替一下那位得了病的歌手吗？
• Yogurt is a perfectly acceptable substitute for cream in cooking.酸奶是烹饪用的特别受欢迎的奶油替代品。

9 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

10 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

11 tackle   

n.工具，复滑车，扭倒；v.处理，抓住

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your sports tackle with you tomorrow.别忘了明天带上你的体育用具。
• We have gained sufficient experience to tackle this problem.我们已经有了足够的经验来处理这个问题。