Lethal

English

Adjective

Lethal (comparative more Lethal, superlative most Lethal)

1. deadly; mortal; fatal

Related terms

• lethality
• semilethal

Noun

Lethal (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.

Thesaurus

baleful, baneful, brutal, corroding, corrosive, corrupting, corruptive, counterproductive, damaging, deadly, death-bringing, deathful, deathly, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, disadvantageous, disserviceable, distressing, fatal, feral, harmful, hurtful, injurious, internecine, killing, malefic, malevolent, malign, malignant, mischievous, mortal, noisome, noxious, ominous, pernicious, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, prejudicial, savage, scatheful, toxic, venenate, veneniferous, venenous, venomous, vicious, virulent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /liːθəl/
• Rhymes: -iːθəl

Etymology 1

< Latin lētālis (“mortal, deadly”), improperly written lethalis < letum (“death”), improperly written as lethum, as associated with Greek λήθη (lethe, “forgetfulness”).

Etymology 2

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

Translations

Adjective

deadly

Czech: smrtící (cs) (causing death), smrtelný (cs) (able to die), smrtonosný (cs) Dutch: dodelijk (nl) Finnish: kuolettava (fi), tappava (fi), letaali (fi) French: létal (fr) m., mortel (fr) m., fatal (fr) m.

German: tödlich (de) Greek: φονικός (el) (fonikos), θανατηφόρος (el) (thanatiforos) Portuguese: fatal (pt), letal (pt), mortal (pt) Slovene: smrtonosen (sl) m., smrtonosna (sl) f., smrtonosno (sl) n. Spanish: letal (es)

Noun

alcohol

External links

• Lethal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Lethal in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911