▪ (of a tumor) tending to invade normal tissue or to recur after removal; cancerous.SimilarcancerousnonbenignmetastaticOppositebenign
Word Originmid 16th century (also in the sense ‘likely to rebel against God or authority’): from late Latin malignant- ‘contriving maliciously’, from the verb malignare. The term was used in its early sense to describe Royalist sympathizers during the English Civil War.