lethality
/li'θælili/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The quality of being deadly; the capacity to cause death: "Lethality" refers to the inherent property or degree of effectiveness of something (e.g., a weapon, disease, or chemical) in causing death.
Usage
- "Lethality" is a formal and technical term, most commonly used in scientific, medical, military, and public safety contexts.
- It is an uncountable noun, so it is not typically used in the plural form.
- It describes a or , not a specific act of killing.
Examples
- The lethality of the new virus strain is a major concern for global health authorities.
- Military engineers are constantly assessing the lethality of new weapon systems.
- The study compared the lethality of various snake venoms.
- Advances in medicine have reduced the lethality of many previously fatal diseases.
Advanced Usage
- "High/Low lethality": A common collocation describing the degree of deadliness.
- The chemical agent has a very high lethality, even in small doses.
- "Case fatality rate" vs. "Lethality": In epidemiology, "case fatality rate" is a specific measure of the proportion of diagnosed cases that result in death, while "lethality" is a more general term for the deadly nature of the disease.
Variants and Related Words
- Lethal (adj): Deadly; sufficient to cause death.
- The substance is lethal to insects.
- Non-lethality (n): The quality of not being designed to cause death (often used for weapons or force).
- The police used non-lethality measures to disperse the crowd.
Synonyms
- Deadliness: The state or quality of being deadly.
- Fatalness: The capacity to cause death or disaster.
- Mortality (in specific contexts): The state of being subject to death; the death rate.
Antonyms
- Harmlessness: The quality of being unable or unlikely to cause harm.
- Safety: The condition of being protected from danger or risk.
Noun
- the quality of being deadly