malignant - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·lig·nant

Audio Help [muh-lig-nuh

nt] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	disposed to cause harm, suffering, or distress deliberately; feeling or showing ill will or hatred.

2.	very dangerous or harmful in influence or effect.

Pathology.

a.	tending to produce death, as bubonic plague.

b.	(of a tumor) characterized by uncontrolled growth; cancerous, invasive, or metastatic.

[Origin: 1535–45; < LL malignant- (s. of malignāns), prp. of malignāre to act maliciously. See malign, -ant

]

—Related forms

ma·lig·nant·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. spiteful, malevolent. 2. perilous, hurtful, pernicious.

—Antonyms 1–3. benign.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
malignant

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·lig·nant Audio Help (mə-lĭg'nənt) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Showing great malevolence; disposed to do evil.
Highly injurious; pernicious.
Pathology
1. Threatening to life; virulent: a malignant disease.
2. Tending to metastasize; cancerous. Used of a tumor.

ma·lig'nant·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
malignant

1568, in ref. to diseases, from L. malignans, prp. of malignere (see malign (adj.)). Earlier in the church malignant "followers of the antichrist," from L. ecclesiam malignantum in early Church writing, applied by Protestant writers to the Church in Rome (1542).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

malignant
adjective
dangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor) [ant: benign]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
malignant1 [məˈlignənt] adjective

(of people, their actions etc) intending, or intended, to do harm
Example: a malignant remark

Arabic:	خَبيث، مُؤْذٍ
Chinese (Simplified):	有恶意的
Chinese (Traditional):	有惡意的
Czech:	škodlivý
Danish:	ondskabsfuld
Dutch:	kwaadaardig
Estonian:	pahatahtlik
Finnish:	pahansuopa
French:	malveillant
German:	böswillig
Greek:	κακεντρεχής
Hungarian:	rosszindulatú
Icelandic:	illgjarn
Indonesian:	jahat
Italian:	maligno, malevolo

Japanese:	悪意のある
Korean:	악의가 있는
Latvian:	ļauns
Lithuanian:	piktanoris, pikta linkintis
Norwegian:	ond(sinnet), hatsk
Polish:	złośliwy
Portuguese (Brazil):	maligno
Portuguese (Portugal):	malévolo
Romanian:	maliţios, răuvoitor
Russian:	злой, злобный
Slovak:	zlomyseľný
Slovenian:	zlonameren
Spanish:	maligno
Swedish:	ondskefull
Turkish:	kötü, acımasız

malignant2 [məˈlignənt] adjective

(of a tumour, disease etc) likely to become worse and cause death
Example: She died of a malignant tumour.

Arabic:	خَبيث، سَرَطاني، مُهْلِك
Chinese (Simplified):	恶性的
Chinese (Traditional):	惡性的
Czech:	zhoubný
Danish:	ondartet
Dutch:	kwaadaardig
Estonian:	pahaloomuline
Finnish:	pahanlaatuinen
French:	malin
German:	bösartig
Greek:	κακοήθης
Hungarian:	rosszindulatú
Icelandic:	illkynja
Indonesian:	ganas
Italian:	maligno

Japanese:	悪性の
Korean:	악성의
Latvian:	ļaundabīgs
Lithuanian:	piktybinis
Norwegian:	ondartet
Polish:	złośliwy
Portuguese (Brazil):	maligno
Portuguese (Portugal):	maligno
Romanian:	malign
Russian:	злокачественный
Slovak:	zhubný
Slovenian:	maligen
Spanish:	maligno
Swedish:	elakartad
Turkish:	habis, ölümcül

See also: malign, "malignant" in any language

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

malignant Audio Help (mə-lĭg'nənt) Pronunciation Key

Tending to have a destructive clinical course, as a malignant illness.
Relating to cancer cells that are invasive and tend to metastasize. Malignant tumor cells are histologically more primitive than normal tissue. Compare benign.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
malignant

A descriptive term for things or conditions that threaten life or well-being. Malignant is the opposite of benign.

Note: The term malignant is used in describing cancerous tumors (see cancer) because such growths are a threat to the health of the individual.

Note: The term is often used in a general way to denote something that is both destructive and fast growing: “The malignant growth of the suburbs is destroying the landscape.”

[Chapter:] Medicine and Health

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

malignant ma·lig·nant (mə-lĭg'nənt)
adj.

Threatening to life, as a disease; virulent.
Tending to metastasize; cancerous. Used of a tumor.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ma·lig·nant
Pronunciation: m&-'lig-n&nt
Function: adjective
1 : tending to produce death or deterioration<malignant malaria>; especially : tending to infiltrate, metastasize, and terminate fatally <malignant tumors> —compare BENIGN 1
2 : of unfavorable prognosis : not responding favorably to treatment malignant trend>

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Malignant

Ma*lign"\, a. [L. malignus, for maligenus, i. e., of a bad kind or nature; malus bad + the root of genus birth, race, kind: cf. F. malin, masc., maligne, fem. See Malice, Gender, and cf. Benign, Malignant.]

1. Having an evil disposition toward others; harboring violent enmity; malevolent; malicious; spiteful; -- opposed to benign.

Witchcraft may be by operation of malign spirits. --Bacon.

2. Unfavorable; unpropitious; pernicious; tending to injure; as, a malign aspect of planets.

3. Malignant; as, a malign ulcer. [R.] --Bacon.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Malignant

Ma*lig"nance\, Malignancy \Ma*lig"nan*cy\, n. [See Malignant.]

1. The state or quality of being malignant; extreme malevolence; bitter enmity; malice; as, malignancy of heart.

2. Unfavorableness; evil nature.

The malignancy of my fate might perhaps distemner yours. --Shak.

3. (Med.) Virulence; tendency to a fatal issue; as, the malignancy of an ulcer or of a fever.

4. The state of being a malignant.