noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', noun
A Sino-Japanese noun/no-adjective meaning that something causes or results in death. In practice it is especially common as the first element of compounds such as 致死量, 致死率, and 致死性.
The lethal dose of this drug is very small.
A lethal dose of drugs was detected in the body.
This infectious disease has a high fatality rate.
The doctor administered a lethal dose of morphine.
He was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
死亡 is a noun/verb-noun meaning 'death, to die', while 致死 is an adjectival/prefix element meaning 'causing death'; learners sometimes wrongly use 致死 where a plain noun for death is needed.
致死 is the bound morpheme meaning 'fatal' or 'lethal' used to form compounds, while 致死量 specifically means the lethal dose amount of a substance.
fatal wound; mortal injury
lethal; fatal
case fatality rate; fatality rate
lethal; fatal; deadly
lethal dose; fatal dose
manslaughter; bodily injury resulting in death
lethal factor; lethal gene
lethal injection
involuntary manslaughter; negligent homicide; accidental homicide
A Sino-Japanese compound written with 致, associated here with bringing about or causing, and 死, death. The spelling directly reflects the idea of causing death.
lethal gene; lethal allele
lethal mutation