Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Virulence
Vir′u·lence, Vir′u·len·cy, n. [Cf. F. virulence, L. virulentia an offensive odor, a stench.] 1. The quality or state of being virulent or venomous; poisonousness; malignancy.
2. Extreme bitterness or malignity of disposition. "Refuted without satirical virulency." Barrow.
The virulence of one declaimer, or the profundities and sublimities of the other. I. Taylor.