letalis

Latin

Etymology

From lētum (“death; ruin”) +‎ -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /leːˈtaː.lis/, [ɫ̪eːˈt̪äːlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /leˈta.lis/, [leˈt̪äːlis]

Adjective

lētālis (neuter lētāle); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. lethal, deadly, fatal, mortal
   • ca. 1129, Henricus Huntindoniensis, Historia Anglorum [1], ed. Thomas Arnold, 1879, p. 194:

     Quem cum bello caesum patri renuntiassent, ait: "Recepitne vulnus letale in anteriori vel posteriori corporis parte?" Dixerunt nuntii: "In anteriori."

     And when they had reported his death during the battle to his father, he said: "Did he receive the lethal blow on the front or the back of his body?" The messengers said: "In the front."

   • 2007, Carolus Petreius Bogotensis, Niponum gallinae probantur viru aviarii morbi contactae [2], Ephemeris, 2007:

     Biologici Nipones affirmant virus H5N1 {...} esse letale.

     Japanese biologists confirm that the H5N1 virus {...} is lethal.

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	lētālis	lētāle		lētālēs	lētālia
Genitive	lētālis			lētālium
Dative	lētālī			lētālibus
Accusative	lētālem	lētāle		lētālēs lētālīs	lētālia
Ablative	lētālī			lētālibus
Vocative	lētālis	lētāle		lētālēs	lētālia

Related terms

• lētifer
• lētō
• lētum

Descendants

• English: lethal
• French: létal
• Italian: letale
• Portuguese: letal
• Spanish: letal

References

• “letalis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “letalis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• letalis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.