English
malicious
Malicious comes from Latin malitiōsus ‘malicious, wicked’, and goes back to malus ‘bad’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalitia‘malice’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalitiōsus‘malicious, wicked’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400malicios
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malicious
- Englishearliest quotation 1681same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalus‘bad’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalitia‘malice’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalitiōsus‘malicious, wicked’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400malicios
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500malicious
- Englishearliest quotation 1681same form
Earliest quotation: 1681, John Dryden, To the Reader: “And novv, if you are a Malitious Reader, I…”
Equivalent to malice + -ious
Latin malus ‘bad’
Latin malitia ‘badness, bad quality, ill-will, spite’
Old French malice ‘malice, evilness, evil intentions’
Middle English malice
English malice
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- ‘false, erroneous’
through Latin malus ‘bad’
Today it means
adj Intending to do harm; characterized by spite and malice.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin malus / malicious