1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Malignant

MALIGNANT (Lat. malignus, evil-disposed, from maligenus), wicked, of a malicious or wilfully evil disposition. The word was early applied by the Protestants to the Romanists, with an allusion to the “congregation of evil doers” (Vulgate Ecclesiam malignantium) of Psalm xxvi. 5. In English history, during the Great Rebellion, the name was given to the Royalists by the Parliamentary party. In the Great Remonstrance of 1641 occur the words “the malignant partie, wherof the Archbishop (Laud) and the earl of Strafford being heads.” The name throughout the period had special reference to the religious differences between the parties. In medical science, the term “malignant” is applied to a particularly virulent or dangerous form which a disease may take, or to a tumour or growth of rapid growth, extension to the lymphatic glands, and recurrence after operation.