English
malinger
Malinger comes from French malingre ‘delicate, fragile’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmalingre‘delicate, fragile’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentmalingrer
- Englishearliest quotation 1915malinger
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmalingre‘delicate, fragile’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentmalingrer
- Englishearliest quotation 1915malinger
Earliest quotation: 1915, Thomas Stearns Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: “And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! /…”
Every English word from French malingre
Today it means
verb To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French malingre / malinger