virulent

Forms

virulent (feminine virulente, masculine plural virulents, feminine plural virulentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin virulentus (“poisonous”),^[2][3][4][1] which is derived from classical vīrus (“plant juice, venom, poison”).^[3][5][6] In Late Latin the adjective was said of a venomous snake and, figuratively, of corrosive speech.^[2] The noun virulence was borrowed at the same time, from Late Latin virulentia (“stench, infection”).^[3]

Wiktionary suggests that the sense “hostile” is probably a semantic loan from English.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1370 in the French translation of Gui de Chauliac's Chirurgie, meaning “infectious, contagious”;^[2][7] the 1478 Guidon en françois speaks of an ulcere virulente.^[2] At first it described an ulcer or a pustule containing corrosive or contagious pus.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In medicine the adjective was applied to what carries the germ of a disease, then from 1690 to a disease produced by such a germ; this last sense has since disappeared.^[3] Lavoisier (1793) used it of a bad smell or taste that betrays something harmful.^[3] Following the history of virus, biology took it up in the 19th century for a germ able to multiply in a living body: germe virulent (1866), and Pasteur's virus très virulent (1880).^[2][3]

A single 16th-century text (about 1535) calls a Protestant reformer le virulent, one who spreads the venom of error.^[2] The lasting figurative sense came in 1751, when Prévost used it of a violent, biting person and of letters full of harshness;^[2][3] Voltaire (1768) applied it to a bitter dispute.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – It appears in Gui de Chauliac's Chirurgie, “infectious”.^[2]
• 1478 – The Guidon en françois has ulcere virulente.^[2]
• c. 1535 – An isolated figurative use, “spreading the venom of error”.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière uses it of a disease caused by a virus.^[4][3]
• 1751 – Prévost uses it of a violent, biting person and of harsh letters.^[2][3]
• 1768 – Voltaire speaks of a dispute bien virulente.^[2]
• 1793 – Lavoisier applies it to a harmful smell or taste.^[3]
• 1866 – Germe virulent: a germ with some degree of virulence.^[2][7]
• 1880 – Pasteur writes of maladies virulentes.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (medicine, dated) Caused by a virus, infectious: une infection virulente.^[2][4][7]
2. (medicine, dated) Containing a germ of disease.^[2][4]
3. (biology) Of a germ, able to multiply and cause disease, showing a high virulence.^[2][7]
4. Harmful, noxious: une toxine virulente.^[2][4]
5. (figurative) Full of harshness and violence, scathing: un article virulent, also of people, elle s'est montrée virulente envers la direction.^[7][2][6]

Word family

• virulemment

Related words

• virulence
• virus
• Latin vīrus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert