lethal
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
lethal¹
- /ˈliː.θəl/
Rhymes with -iːθəl
Where it comes from
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”).
adjective more lethal · most lethal
- 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.
noun lethals
-
Any weapon that causes death.
Opposite: non-lethal
- An allele that causes the death of the organism that carries it.
lethal²
- /ˈliː.θəl/
Rhymes with -iːθəl
Where it comes from
Abbreviation of “lauric acid ethereal salt”, so called because it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.
noun
- One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: deadly, fatal, mortal, life-threatening, destructive, dead, devastating, murderous, homicidal, killer, disastrous, murderer, catastrophic, harmful, pernicious, daunting
Translations
Every language
adj of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal
| Español | letal |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 치명적인 chimyeongjeog-in, 치사의 chisaui |
| 日本語 | 必殺の hissatsu no, 致命的な chimeiteki na, 致死の chishi no |
| 中文 | 致命的 zhìmìng de, 致死的 zhìsǐdē |
| Português | fatal, letal, mortal |
| Français | létal, léthal, mortel, fatal |
| Deutsch | tödlich, letal |
| Italiano | letale |
| Ελληνικά | φονικός fonikós, θανατηφόρος thanatifóros |
| Русский | смерте́льный smertélʹnyj, смертоно́сный smertonósnyj, лета́льный letálʹnyj |
| العربية | مُمِيت mumīt |
Talk about this word "lethal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lethal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lethal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lethal "lethal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lethal.Cite this
@misc{lethal_2026,
title = {lethal},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lethal},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
