different between poisonous vs malignant

English

Etymology

From Middle English poisounous, poysonouse, equivalent to poison +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??z?n?s/, /?p??zn?s/

Adjective

poisonous (comparative more poisonous, superlative most poisonous)

1. Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous to touch or ingest.

   Synonyms: poisoned, toxic, venomous, (dialectal or archaic) attery

   Antonyms: nonpoisonous, unpoisonous

2. (figuratively) Negative, harmful.

   Synonym: toxic

Usage notes

Some speakers make a distinction between poisonous (releasing toxins when eaten), and venomous (releasing toxins (known as venom in this case) by biting a target), especially in non-colloquial speech.

Derived terms

Translations

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?