pernicios

Pernicios is the masculine plural form of the Spanish adjective pernicioso, used to describe something harmful, damaging, or ruinous. In standard Spanish the feminine plural is perniciosas and the masculine singular is pernicioso; the bare form pernicios is rarely used except as a nominalized or archaic variant meaning "the pernicious ones." It can appear in poetry or historical texts, but in contemporary prose it is uncommon.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin perniciosus, meaning ruinous or destructive, formed with the suffix -osus and related to concepts of ruin or harm. The sense of harmfulness extends across ethics, medicine, ecology, and social discourse.

Usage: In contemporary Spanish, the common adjective is pernicioso, with inflected forms such as perniciosos or perniciosas to modify masculine or feminine nouns. The expression "efectos perniciosos" or "factores perniciosos" is typical for describing harmful effects or factors. In medicine, "anemia perniciosa" is a well-known term for pernicious anemia, a vitamin B12 deficiency disorder.

Context: The term often appears in formal or scholarly writing when distinguishing harmful influences from beneficial ones. It also appears in legal or policy discussions to characterize deleterious practices or policies as perniciosos.

See also: pernicious, anemia perniciosa.