Intro to Coronaviruses History The “Common” Coronaviruses The “Outbreak” Coronaviruses Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) Novel Coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) Intro to Coronaviruses History I was disappointed to find that the origin of the term “coronaviruses” has nothing to do with the beer, but instead refers to the appearance of these viruses. The word “corona” is Latin for “crown or garland”, which is how coronaviruses appear under microscopes.