noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/liˈθælɪti/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ælɪti
CMU ARPABET:L IY0 TH AE1 L AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The fact of something being lethal; the ability of something to kill.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The degree of lethal (mortal) danger that something (usually a disease or a weapon) presents; the magnitude of its power to kill organisms exposed to it; this property is indirectly measured by any of various proxy rates, including mortality rate, case fatality rate, or infection fatality rate (for diseases) or kill rate (for weapons, pesticides, or parasites).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the quality of being deadly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree English lethal Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English lethality From lethal + -ity.
Across languages
Translations
7 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
леталност
(letalnost)
— ability of something to kill
Dutch:
dodelijkheid
— ability of something to kill
Luxembourgish:
Letalitéit
— ability of something to kill
Tagalog:
pagkakamatay
— ability of something to kill