Wiktionary

virulent

English

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WOTD – 6 December 2020

Etymology

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PIE word
*wisós

From Middle English virulent (“leaking or seeping pus, purulent; (of putrefaction) extremely severe (sense uncertain)”) [and other forms],[1] borrowed from Latin vīrulentus (“poisonous”), from vīrus (“poison; venom; slime, slimy liquid; stinking smell; nasty taste”)[2] (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wisós (“poison; slime; fluidity”)) + -ulentus (suffix meaning ‘abounding in, full of’, forming adjectives).

Sense 4 (“of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis”) is derived from French virulent, which was first used in this sense by the French biologist François Jacob (1920–2013) and his co-authors in a 1953 article.[2][3]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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virulent (comparative more virulent, superlative most virulent)

  1. Of animals, plants, or substances: extremely venomous or poisonous.
    Antonyms: harmless, nonvirulent
  2. (figurative) Extremely hostile or malicious; intensely acrimonious.
    The politicians were virulent in their hatred of the president.
    • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
      More venemous and much more virulent / Then any poyſoned tode, or any ſerpent.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “The Well House”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 105:
      It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.
  3. (medicine) Of a disease or disease-causing agent: malignant, able to cause damage to the host.
    Antonyms: benign, nonvirulent
  4. (microbiology) Of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis. [from 1953]

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “vīrulent, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “virulent, adj.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1917; “virulent, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ F[rançois] Jacob, A[ndré Michel] Lwoff, A. Siminovich, É[lie] Wollman (1953 January) “Définition de Quelques Termes Relatifs a la Lysogénie [Definition of Some Terms Relating to Lysogeny]”, in Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, volume 84, number 1, Paris: Masson et Cie, […], →OCLC, page 223: “Phage virulent. – Phage incapable de donner des systèmes lysogénes.”

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin vīrulentus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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virulent (feminine virulenta, masculine plural virulents, feminine plural virulentes)

  1. virulent

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Danish

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

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virulent (plural and definite singular attributive virulente)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin virulentus. The second sense is probably a semantic loan from English.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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virulent (feminine virulente, masculine plural virulents, feminine plural virulentes)

  1. (medicine) virulent
  2. virulent (hostile)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin virulentus.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /viʁuˈlɛnt/
  • Hyphenation: vi‧ru‧lent
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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virulent (strong nominative masculine singular virulenter, not comparable)

  1. (medicine) virulent

Declension

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Positive forms of virulent (uncomparable)
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist virulent sie ist virulent es ist virulent sie sind virulent
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative virulenter virulente virulentes virulente
genitive virulenten virulenter virulenten virulenter
dative virulentem virulenter virulentem virulenten
accusative virulenten virulente virulentes virulente
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der virulente die virulente das virulente die virulenten
genitive des virulenten der virulenten des virulenten der virulenten
dative dem virulenten der virulenten dem virulenten den virulenten
accusative den virulenten die virulente das virulente die virulenten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein virulenter eine virulente ein virulentes (keine) virulenten
genitive eines virulenten einer virulenten eines virulenten (keiner) virulenten
dative einem virulenten einer virulenten einem virulenten (keinen) virulenten
accusative einen virulenten eine virulente ein virulentes (keine) virulenten

Further reading

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  • “virulent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “virulent” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “virulent” in Duden online

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French virulent, from Latin virulentus.

Adjective

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virulent m or n (feminine singular virulentă, masculine plural virulenți, feminine and neuter plural virulente)

  1. virulent

Declension

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singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative 		indefinite virulent virulentă virulenți virulente
definite virulentul virulenta virulenții virulentele
genitive-
dative 		indefinite virulent virulente virulenți virulente
definite virulentului virulentei virulenților virulentelor
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