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lethal

adj, noun — 4 senses

lethal

adj

/ˈliː.θəl/

Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin lētālis (“deadly, mortal, fatal”), improperly written lēthālis, from lētum (“death”), improperly written as lēthum, from a supposed connection with Ancient Greek λήθη (lḗthē, “oblivion, forgetfulness”).

1

Of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.

  • Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
Derived terms
31 termscoat color dilution lethal, colethal, cytolethal, haplolethal, hyperlethal, less-lethal, less-than-lethal, lethal allele, lethal chamber, lethal congenital contracture syndrome, lethal dose, lethal gene, lethal injection, lethality, lethally, lethalness, lethal time, lethal white syndrome, lethal yellowing, lethal zone, nonlethal, non-lethal, semilethal, semi-lethal, sublethal, sub-lethal, superlethal, supralethal, triplolethal, ultralethal, unlethal
Related terms
nonlethality, semilethality, sublethality, sublethally

lethal

noun

Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin lētālis (“deadly, mortal, fatal”), improperly written lēthālis, from lētum (“death”), improperly written as lēthum, from a supposed connection with Ancient Greek λήθη (lḗthē, “oblivion, forgetfulness”).

1

Any weapon that causes death.

2

Biology, Genetics, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences An allele that causes the death of the organism that carries it.

lethal

noun

Etymology Abbreviation of “lauric acid ethereal salt”, so called because it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.

1

Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.