Link Centre Dictionary

virulence

vi·ru·lence

UK/ˈvɪɹjələns/ US/ˈvɪɹələns/ uncommon

noun

1.

extreme harmfulness (as the capacity of a microorganism to cause disease)

  • “the virulence of the plague”
Synonyms
2.

extreme hostility

  • “the virulence of the malicious old man”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle French virulence, from Late Latin virulentia.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.