# virulent
## English
### Etymology

* PIE word
* *wisós
From Middle English virulent (“leaking or seeping pus, purulent; (of putrefaction) extremely severe (sense uncertain)”) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin vīrulentus (“poisonous”), from vīrus (“poison; venom; slime, slimy liquid; stinking smell; nasty taste”) (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.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈvɪɹ(j)ʊl(ə)nt/, /-ɹ(j)ə-/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈvɪɹ(j)ələnt/
* Hyphenation: vi‧ru‧lent

### Adjective

virulent (comparative more virulent, superlative most virulent)
* Of animals, plants, or substances: extremely venomous or poisonous.
    Antonyms: harmless, nonvirulent
* (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.
* (medicine) Of a disease or disease-causing agent: malignant, able to cause damage to the host.
    Antonyms: benign, nonvirulent
* (microbiology) Of a pathogen: replicating within its host cell, then immediately causing it to undergo lysis. [from 1953]

#### Derived terms

* avirulent
* cardiovirulent
* enterovirulent
* hepatovirulent
* hypervirulent
* hypovirulent
* neurovirulent
* nonvirulent
* supervirulent
* urovirulent
* virulently
* virulentness

#### Related terms

* virulence
* virulency (dated)
* virus

#### See also

* pathogenic

### References

* ↑ “vīrulent, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* 1 2 “virulent, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1917; “virulent, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* ↑ 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

* virulence on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* evil turn

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīrulentus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [bi.ɾuˈlen]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [vi.ɾuˈlent]

### Adjective

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

#### Derived terms

* virulentament

#### Related terms

* virulència

### Further reading

* “virulent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “virulent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
* “virulent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “virulent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Danish
### Etymology

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

### Adjective

virulent (plural and definite singular attributive virulente)
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

### Further reading

* “virulent” in Den Danske Ordbog

## French
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /vi.ʁy.lɑ̃/

### Adjective

virulent (feminine virulente, masculine plural virulents, feminine plural virulentes)
* (medicine) virulent
* virulent (hostile)

#### Derived terms

* virulemment

#### Related terms

* virulence

### Further reading

* “virulent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin virulentus.

### Pronunciation

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

### Adjective

virulent (strong nominative masculine singular virulenter, not comparable)
* (medicine) virulent

#### Declension
### Further reading

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

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French virulent, from Latin virulentus.

### Adjective

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