different between malignant vs cancerously

English

Etymology

From Middle French malignant, from Late Latin malignans. See malign.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??l??n?nt/

Adjective

malignant (comparative more malignant, superlative most malignant)

1. Harmful, malevolent, injurious.
2. (medicine) Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.

   malignant diphtheria

   a malignant tumor

Antonyms

• (medicine): benign, non-malignant

Derived terms

Related terms

• nonmalignant

Translations

Noun

malignant (plural malignants)

1. A deviant; a person who is hostile or destructive to society.
   • 1823, The Retrospective Review (volume 7, page 11)

     As devout Stephen was carried to his burial by devout men, so is it just and equal that malignants should carry malignants […]
2. (historical, derogatory, obsolete) A person who fought for Charles I in the English Civil War.

Latin

Verb

malignant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of malign?

English

Etymology

cancerous +? -ly

Adverb

cancerously (comparative more cancerously, superlative most cancerously)

1. In a cancerous manner; like a cancer; malignant; spreading.
   • 2005 Mario Vargas Llosa, Conversation in the Cathedral: a novel, page 323:

     He was motionless for a moment, breathing deeply, and then he separated himself from them, leaning his body away, with a distaste that he could feel growing cancerously.

2. With cancer.

   cancerously diseased cells