From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
malignant \ma*lig"nant\, a. [L. malignans, -antis, p. pr. of
malignare, malignari, to do or make maliciously. See
{Malign}, and cf. {Benignant}.]
1. Disposed to do harm, inflict suffering, or cause distress;
actuated by extreme malevolence or enmity; virulently
inimical; bent on evil; malicious.
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A malignant and a turbaned Turk. --Shak.
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2. Characterized or caused by evil intentions; pernicious.
"Malignant care." --Macaulay.
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Some malignant power upon my life. --Shak.
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Something deleterious and malignant as his touch.
--Hawthorne.
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3. (Med.) Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal
issue; virulent; as, malignant diphtheria.
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{Malignant pustule} (Med.), a very contagious disease
produced by infection of subcutaneous tissues with the
bacterium {Bacillus anthracis}. It is transmitted to man
from animals and is characterized by the formation, at the
point of reception of the infection, of a vesicle or
pustule which first enlarges and then breaks down into an
unhealthy ulcer. It is marked by profound exhaustion and
often fatal. The disease in animals is called {charbon};
in man it is called {cutaneous anthrax}, and formerly was
sometimes called simply {anthrax}.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Anthrax \An"thrax\ ([a^]n"thr[a^]ks), n. [L., fr. Gr. 'a`nqrax
coal, carbuncle.]
1. (Med.)
(a) A carbuncle.
(b) A malignant pustule.
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2. (Biol.) A microscopic, bacterial organism ({Bacillus
anthracis}), resembling transparent rods. [See Illust.
under {Bacillus}.]
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3. An infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It is ascribed
to the presence of a rod-shaped gram-positive bacterium
({Bacillus anthracis}), the spores of which constitute the
contagious matter. It may be transmitted to man by
inoculation. The spleen becomes greatly enlarged and
filled with bacteria. Called also {splenic fever}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Carbuncle \Car"bun*cle\, n. [L. carbunculus a little coal, a
bright kind of precious stone, a kind of tumor, dim. of carbo
coal: cf. F. carboncle. See {Carbon}.]
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1. (Min.) A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture
of scarlet) called by the Greeks anthrax; found in the
East Indies. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep
tinge, and becomes of the color of burning coal. The name
belongs for the most part to ruby sapphire, though it has
been also given to red spinel and garnet.
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2. (Med.) A very painful acute local inflammation of the
subcutaneous tissue, esp. of the trunk or back of the
neck, characterized by brawny hardness of the affected
parts, sloughing of the skin and deeper tissues, and
marked constitutional depression. It differs from a boil
in size, tendency to spread, and the absence of a central
core, and is frequently fatal. It is also called
{anthrax}.
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3. (Her.) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the
precious stone. It has eight scepters or staves radiating
from a common center. Called also {escarbuncle}.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
anthrax
n 1: a highly infectious animal disease (especially cattle and
sheep); it can be transmitted to people [syn: {anthrax},
{splenic fever}]
2: a disease of humans that is not communicable; caused by
infection with Bacillus anthracis followed by septicemia
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