(of a tumour or disease 肿瘤或疾病 that cannot be controlled and is likely to cause death 恶性的 malignant cells 恶性癌细胞
- (formal)
having or showing a strong desire to harm somebody 恶意的；恶毒的
Word Originmid 16th cent. (also in the sense ‘likely to rebel against God or authority’): from late Latin malignant- ‘contriving maliciously’, from the verb malignare. The term was used in its early sense to describe Royalist sympathizers during the English Civil War.