Malignance; Malignancy

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The state or quality of being malignant; extreme malevolence; bitter enmity; malice; as, malignancy of heart.

2. Unfavorableness; evil nature. The malignancy of my fate might perhaps distemner yours. Shak.

3. Virulence; tendency to a fatal issue; as, the malignancy of an ulcer or of a fever.

4. The state of being a malignant.

Synonyms: Malice; malevolence; malignity. See Malice.