Лингвистические мутации коронавируса, или об истории означивания новой болезни (I mutamenti linguistici del coronavirus (cenni sulla storia di significazione di una nuova malattia)

The paper focuses on the neologisms that appeared in the Russian language to name «coronavirus». It describes the history of signification of a new disease and a new virus, the origin of the recent pandemic. The study analyses the main naming strategies and describes how medical terminology overstepped the limits of professional sociolect and was assimilated in a common language. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of multiple nominations, which developed in an extremely short time, and led to systemic relationships of synonymity and stylistic differentiation, that covered all styles of contemporary Russian literary language from scientific and religious to colloquial.