(virology) a type of giant virus, a giant nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (giant NCLDV)
Etymology
Blend of giant +virus
Coined by J M Claverie, H Ogata, S Audic, C Abergel, K Suhre, P E Fournier, in 2006 paper in Virus Research (DOI 10.1016/j.virusres.2006.01.008)