The subcommittee proposes that the AIDS retroviruses be officially designated as the human immunodeficiency viruses, to be known in abbreviated form as HIV. The name conforms to common nomenclature for retroviruses, beginning with the host species, ending with "virus," and containing a word that denotes a major (though not the only) pathogenetic property of the prototypic members of the group ("immunodeficiency"). Although the name connects the viruses to the disease with which the virus group is associated, it does not incorporate the term "AIDS," which many clinicians urged the subcommittee to avoid. The name is readily distinguished from all existing names for this group of viruses and is sufficiently distinct from the names of other retroviruses to imply an independent virus species. 9 notes.