English
malediction
Malediction comes from Latin maledictiō ‘curse’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaledictiō‘curse’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malédiction
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malediccion‘condemnation, punishment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771malediction
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaledictiō‘curse’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600malédiction
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malediccion‘condemnation, punishment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771malediction
Earliest quotation: 1771, Henry Mackenzie, His Skill in Physiognomy: “[H]is friend, with great ebullience of paſſion, many praiſes…”
A compound of malus ‘evil’ + dictiō ‘speech’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- ‘false, erroneous’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)molos
Proto-Italic *malos
Archaic Latin malos
Latin malus ‘evil’
Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point out, to show’
Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti ‘to be pointing out’
Proto-Italic *deikō ‘to show, indicate’
Latin dīcō ‘to say’
Latin dictiō ‘speech’
Every English word from Latin maledictiō
Today it means
noun A curse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin maledictiō / malediction