A papovavirus is a member of the Papovaviridae family of viruses. Papovaviridae includes two genuses: papillomavirus and polyomavirus.

The name derives from three abbreviations: Pa for papillomavirus, Po for polyomavirus, and Va for "vacuolating" (simian vacuolating virus 40 or SV40, which is now known to be part of the polyomavirus genus).

Papovaviruses are DNA viruses containing double-stranded DNA, are icosahedral in shape, and do not have a lipoprotein envelope.

They are commonly found in humans and other species, mostly mammals. The one that most often causes disease in humans is the human papillomavirus.

Note: this family is not used any more in recent taxonomy; each genus has been attributed to its own family, respectively, Polyomaviridae and Papillomaviridae.