English
malign
Malign comes from Latin malignus ‘wicked, malicious, stingy’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalignus‘wicked, malicious, stingy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400maligne
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘evil, malicious, malign’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596malign
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmalignus‘wicked, malicious, stingy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400maligne
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘evil, malicious, malign’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596malign
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “The people practice what mischiefs and villainies they will…”
A compound of malus ‘bad’ + genus ‘sort, kind’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- ‘false, erroneous’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)molos
Proto-Italic *malos
Archaic Latin malos
Latin malus ‘bad’
Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’
Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race’
Proto-Italic *genos
Latin genus ‘sort, kind’
Every English word from Latin malignus
Today it means
adj Evil or malignant in disposition, nature, intent or influence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin malignus / malign