冠状病毒属的病毒是具外套膜(envelope)的正链单股RNA病毒，直径约80-120nm，其遗传物质是所有RNA病毒中最大的，只感染人、鼠、猪、猫、犬、禽类脊椎动物。

1965年时， Tyrrell 与 Bynoe 利用胚胎的带有纤毛的气管组织首次培养出冠状病毒，此病毒在电子显微镜下可见如日冕般外围的冠状， 因此被称为冠状病毒（Coronaviridae）。1975年，病毒命名委员会，正式命名冠状病毒科。

1980年第一次的冠状病毒讨论会在德国召开。

Coronaviridae is a family of enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses. The viral genome is 26–32 kb in length. Virions are spherical, 120–160 nm across (Coronavirinae), bacilliform, 170–200 by 75–88 nm (Bafinivirus) or found as a mixture of both, with bacilliform particles characteristically bent into crescents (Torovirus). The particles are typically decorated with large (~20 nm), club- or petal-shaped surface projections (the “peplomers” or “spikes”), which in electron micrographs of spherical particles create an image reminiscent of the solar corona. Members of this family are thus referred to as coronaviruses, as are members of the subfamily Coronavirinae.