malignance

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ma·lig·nan·cy

(mə-lĭg′nən-sē)

n. pl. ma·lig·nan·cies

1. also ma·lig·nance (-nəns) The state or quality of being malignant.

2. A malignant tumor.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

malignance

(məˈlɪɡnəns)

the condition or characteristic of being malignant

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun	1.	malignance - (medicine) a malignant state; progressive and resistant to treatment and tending to cause death malignancy cancer cell - a cell that is part of a malignant tumor medical specialty, medicine - the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques malignant neoplasm, malignant tumor, metastatic tumor - a tumor that is malignant and tends to spread to other parts of the body
	2.	malignance - quality of being disposed to evil; intense ill will malignancy, malignity evilness, evil - the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice; "attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world"

References in classic literature ?

"But, perhaps, there is no God at all," Raskolnikov answered with a sort of malignance, laughed and looked at her.