Etymology

pernicious

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Today it means: Causing much harm in a subtle way. Full definition →

Old French pernicios ← Latin perniciōsus
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pernicious · adjective1

  1. Latin · derived fromperniciōsus“destructive”
  2. Old French · derived frompernicios
  3. English todaypernicious

From Middle English, from Old French pernicios, from Latin perniciōsus (“destructive”), from perniciēs (“destruction”), from per (“through”) + nex (“slaughter, death”).

pernicious · adjective2

Analyzable as pernīx ("swift") + -ious.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.