[ad. L. vīrulentia, f. vīrulentus: see next and -ENCY. So Sp. and Pg. virulencia, It. virulenza.]
1. = VIRULENCE 1.
a. 1617. Hieron, Wks. (1620), II. 487. Men of corrupt minds shall … bee as it were moued … to goe on in their virulency and spite, and scorne of good Profession.
1647. N. Ward, Simp. Cobler (1843), 6. The zeale of the one, the virulency of the other, must … kindle combustions.
1672. Clarendon, Ess., Tracts (1727), 269. Those differences which are debated between Roman Catholics themselves with so much virulency and animosity.
1738. Birch, Milton, in M.’s Wks., I. 28. He was always remarkable for an Haughtiness of Temper and Virulency of Style.
1847. E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights, ii. Several incoherent threats of retaliation that, in their indefinite depth of virulency, smacked of King Lear.
2. = VIRULENCE 2.
1651. French, Distill., v. 135. The powder … is very good to be strewed upon old ulcers, for it doth much correct the virulency of them.
1669. W. Simpson, Hydrol. Chym., 73. The Hyacinth … becomes the infallible indication of the Plague, by which afterward … the virulency … is driven forth.
1694. Salmon, Bate’s Dispens. (1713), 561/2. Lest the Particles of the Mercury … should … create Pains, Aches, Rottenness, or a Virulency never to be taken away.
1710. T. Fuller, Pharm. Extemp., 283. The Particles of the Quick-Silver … oftentimes impress an indelible Virulency upon the Brain.
