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Lethal vs Poisonous - What's the difference?

lethal | poisonous |

As adjectives the difference between lethal and poisonous

is that lethal is deadly; mortal; fatal while poisonous is containing sufficient poison to be dangerous.

As a noun lethal

is one of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.

lethal

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Deadly; mortal; fatal.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.}}
    Related terms
    * lethality * semilethal

    Etymology 2

    Abbreviation of “lauric acid ethereal salt”, so called because it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.

    Noun

    (-)
  • (chemistry) One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid.

    • External links

    * *

    poisonous

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous
  • (of an animal) Inedible due to containing poison; poisonous to eat

    • Synonyms

    * toxic, venomous, attery

    Derived terms

    * poisonousness